The Adventure of a Lifetime
by Hasenpfeffer
Summary: The Four Sword (manga) Links are about to put the Four Sword back into its pedestal, when a mysterious instrument, a 'harp of time' catches their eye. following a short accident where Zelda accidentally plucks a few strings, the four Links are sent through time to another legend, the legend of Twilight Princess.
1. An Unfortunate Mishap

**A/N I will normally have the chapters from someone's point of view, and I will say who in bold in the beginning of the chapter. Well, now that's out of the way, here we go! Almost...**

**Someone reading this who hasn't read the Four Swords manga? (if you have you can skip this) Then here's a bit of an informant; the four Links have nicknamed themselves for their respective colors; Green, Red, Blue and Vio (because he didn't like Purple and Violet was too girly). They also have different personalities. Green is the focused and motivated one, Vio is the smart one, Blue is the hotheaded and agressive one, and likes smashing things with his hammer, and lastly, Red is the innocent and optimistic one. Well, there ya go! Read on!**

**No-one's POV**

Red, Blue, Green, Vio, and Zelda were in the Four Sword Chamber. They were a little sad because they were about to put the Four Sword back into its pedestal and become one Link again. As the four were saying their goodbyes, Green happened to look up and his eye caught on something gold and shiny hanging on the wall.

"Hey, what's that?" he asked, pointing to it. It looked like some sort of instrument. Zelda saw what he was pointing at and lifted it gently off the wall.

"This is a harp of ages," She explained, showing the red, blue, and gold instrument to them **(1)**, "Don't touch the strings," She warned Blue, who was just about to pluck one, "Who knows what will happen. It's a magical instrument designed to send people through time."

"Oh," Blue said.

"Why is it here?" Vio asked.

"It was put here a long time ago, though I'm not sure why," Zelda answered, "Maybe because not so many people come here, and someone didn't want it accidentally or purposely getting used. It's dangerous, messing with timelines, especially the past. Who knows, one tiny little thing you might do may drastically change all of the future. It's better not to mess with that sort of thing."

Zelda moved to place the harp back on the wall, but unexpectedly, one of the nails supporting it fell off. Zelda reached to grab the harp before it hit the ground, at the same time accidentally hitting a few of the strings. Time seemed to slow down, leaving no sound but that of the ringing notes of the harp. It was beautiful but eerie at the same time. Zelda gasped.

A bright light filled the room, and the four colorful Links had a strange, warping sensation. It did not make their stomachs feel very great. This lasted for a few moments, then the light faded and they dropped onto something wooden with several loud thumps.

"Ouch!" Blue complained as Red fell on him.

"Aaah!" Green yelped, and landed on the two. Vio fell on the very top of the dogpile, and Blue groaned.

"I don't feel so good…" Red groaned, putting a hand on his stomach and turning a little green.

"You are _not_ throwing up on me! Get off!" Blue grunted, trying to shove everyone off of him and get away from Red.

"Everyone please calm down, so we can get out of this knot _without_ much of a problem," Vio said. Eventually, after Red had his hat pulled off, Green almost getting skewered, Blue getting his hand stepped on, and everyone else getting bruises from Blue swinging his hammer, the group untangled themselves and stood up. Green straightened his tunic and stared at his surroundings.

"Um, guys," he said, "I don't think we're in the Four Sword chamber anymore…"

**1- In case you had a sneaking suspicion, this is indeed the Harp of Ages seen in Oracle of Ages. Yes, that game is in a different part of the timeline, but the harp needs to come from somewhere, right? What if it was made before Ocarina of Time? For the sake of this story, it was.**

**A/N I have no idea how often I will be updating, my life is kind of busy right now, and I keep getting writer's block, but don't worry! I will ****_never_**** give up on this story!**

**Also I will take the time to answer anyone's reviews, and constructive criticism is always welcome! Thanks! :D**

**Edit 8/16/13 -I am running through to correct a few stuffs that I missed earlier. Shouldn't take too long and I won't put a notice on every chapter.**


	2. Links, Meet Link?

**Vio**

"Where are we?" Red asked. They were on an unfamiliar bridge hanging over a wide chasm.

"I don't know," Green replied, "This place doesn't look like anything on my map."

"I think we're back in time," Vio spoke up, "Zelda plucked a few strings on that harp, right? It must have sent us here, though I don't know where or when we are."

"How will we get back?" Green asked. Vio sighed. He didn't have a clue.

"I don't know."

"Well, we aren't going to get anywhere standing here!" Red piped up cheerfully, "I say we head that way!" He pointed down the bridge towards a well-trodden path.

"I say we go that way," Blue pointed in the opposite direction.

"I don't know," Green pondered, "I think Red's way would be best. It looks the most populated."

"You don't know that!" Blue pointed out, hefting his hammer.

"Wait, how about a compromise!" Vio interrupted, knowing what was coming. He had no wish to be hit with the hammer again, "How about we try Red's path for a bit, and if we don't see anything promising, we try the other way."

Blue gave his purple counterpart a glowering glare and grumbled, "Fine."

Red beamed.

**~/_\~**

After the group left the bridge, they strode down a short winding path. Almost immediately, they came upon a clear spring.

"Look!" Red shouted, pointing at the clear water. There, lying unconscious, was a boy who looked to be around seventeen. Thankfully, he wasn't face first in the water. The four Links rushed over to help.

Dragging him out of the spring, they tried to wake him up. Green shook his shoulder.

"Mister? Hey mister, wake up!" he said. The boy didn't move. Vio thought for a moment. Then, he had an idea. He had spotted some weird grass, which grew something that looked like a whistle. Picking it, he blew into it experimentally. It produced a high-pitched note. That would do nicely.

"What are you doing, Vio?" Blue asked incredulously, looking up from where he was watching Green's vain attempts to shake him awake.

"Wait and see," he answered, walking over with the plant. Kneeling down next to the unconscious hylian, he blew the grass as hard as he could next to his ear.

Instantly, the boy shot up, shouting, "Ilia!"

"Whoa, calm down mister," Green said, placing his hand on the panicked person's shoulder, "What happened to you?"

"Monsters… attacked, Ilia and Epona are gone! I have to find them!" The boy started to get up.

_Epona? That name sounds familiar… Isn't there a horse named Epona in the knight's stables back home?_ Vio thought to himself.

"Hey, how about we help you!" Red offered, "What's your name?"

"Are you sure you want to help?" he asked.

"We don't have anything better to do at the moment," Blue answered, "Besides, we always help people."

"Alright, let's go," the hylian agreed, turning to leave.

"Yes!" Red cheered, jumping up and down.

"Oh, I'm Link, by the way," the boy informed them, "Now come on, I think they went this way!" He raced out of the spring.

The other links stood for a second, shocked.

"His name is Link too?" Blue asked.

"I think it's cool!" Red exclaimed, "Come on!" He raced after Link, the others following behind him. Vio was thinking hard. _Another person named Link? and Epona too... That can't just be a coincidence… can it?_

**A/N Woot! Another chapter! Constructive criticism is always welcome! :D Well, again, After this weekend, I don't know how often I will be able to update, but I will whenever possible!**


	3. Into the Darkness

**Green**

When the group caught up to Link, they found him just on the other side of the bridge they had landed on earlier. He was staring at a large, ominous wall that definitely hadn't been there before. It wasn't like any kind of wall Green had ever seen before. A large, sinister thing with mysterious black patterns racing across it. The base color was an eerie yellow-orange that reminded Green of the color of the sun and sky at twilight.

"What _is_ that?" Red asked fearfully. No-one knew the answer. Blue stepped closer towards it, gripping his hammer. The wall seemed to thrum louder when he came near. Then he bashed his hammer into it. That only resulted in him getting thrown backwards into Vio, knocking them both over.

"Ow!" Vio wheezed, the breath knocked out of him.

They both got off the ground, Blue saying, "Sorry."

Link stepped forwards and cautiously poked the wall. It only resulted in it thrumming louder and his hand getting jerked back by a sudden force.

All of a sudden, a giant dark hand erupted out of the wall, grabbing all five Links in its pitch-black fist. Jerking backwards, it dragged the shrieking group straight through the wall and into darkness.

**~/_\~**

Inside the wall, the hand dropped them roughly onto the ground.

"Where are we?" Red asked fearfully, "Everything looks… strange."

Then Vio gasped, "I don't feel right, something's happening…"

"I'm feeling it too," Link agreed. Just then everyone doubled over, groaning and yelling. Green gasped as the change happened. Everything felt so strange… he fell onto all fours, yelling in pain. He felt like human soup. His insides were boiling, nothing felt right. He gritted his teeth, groaning. His hands curled, then his eyesight went fuzzy, and everything turned black.

**A/N Yes, a shorter chapter, but I've uploaded three today, and it's a cliffie‼ Oooooh! What did the Four Swords Links turn into? I'll drop a hint; it's furry, has paws, and a good sense of smell!**

**Seeya next time!**


	4. Help from an Imp

**Green**

When Green awoke, he found metal bars sitting directly in front of his face. That was the least of his problems. He felt weird all over, his ears felt too long, his hands too small, and he felt… fluffy. He tried groaning, but the sound that he emitted sounded more like something in-between a wheeze and a sniffle. Then he scrunched his nose and turned his ears back… wait a second.

Panicking, Green shot up and examined his body in shock. Now he realized why everything felt strange. He was… He was…

"A _RABBIT?!_" Blue roared next to him, "I'm a cute, fluffy _rabbit?!_" Blue looked like the angriest, blue-tinted bunny on the planet. **(1)**

"You too?" a purple-tinted rabbit, whom Green assumed was Vio, asked from the corner.

"And me!" Red piped cheerfully. Apparently, being a reddish bunny didn't faze him in the slightest. Blue wasn't so happy.

"Oh _you_ can be cheerful about this!" he growled at Red, though with a rabbit's throat, it came out as more of an irritated purr.

"Hey, where's Link?" Green asked, hoping to at least stall the one-sided argument about to occur.

"I think he's that wolf over there," Vio informed him, pointing his nose at a gray wolf lying on the floor outside of what Green now realized was a crudely made rabbit hutch.

"How do you know?" Red asked.

"I don't, I'm just assuming it is because he isn't locked in with us, but he's in the same cell."

Indeed, Green hadn't noticed, but they were all, aside from being in the rabbit hutch, in a larger, human-sized cell. Just then, the wolf moaned and opened its shockingly blue eyes. Link's eyes. Vio's suspicions were confirmed. Apparently, Blue had noticed this as well.

"_What?!_ How come _he_ gets to be the wolf and not me! I have to be stuck as a stupid rabbit!" he snarled as best a baby blue tinted rabbit could.

"Calm down Blue, it's not as if we had a choice," Vio stated, "You might as well make the best of it."

Before Blue could go into a rant about how he couldn't _possibly_ make the best of it, he was interrupted by Wolf Link panicking after he discovered his transformation. He was chained to the floor by his leg.

"What's going on?" he asked, "Why am I a wolf?"

"I don't know, probably the same reason we're rabbits," Green said, "Vio probably has a theory, right Vio?" he asked the purple rabbit. He wasn't paying attention. Instead, Vio was sniffing the air, twitching his ears, and staring out of the cell.

"It feels very strange here…" he noted.

"Of course it does! You're a rabbit, stuck in a crate, in jail, remember?" Blue said.

"No, not that, I mean the atmosphere, it feels off," he corrected.

"Who cares?" Blue grumbled.

Just then, Red asked, "Who are you?" He and Vio were staring at some… _creature_ standing and staring at them through the bars. It looked somewhat amused.

Jumping through the bars, it yelled "I Found you!" staring Link in the face. Link backed up, growling, and Blue looked like he wanted to smash it. Green, Vio and Red all stiffened, wondering if the creature was dangerous.

Link growled again, his hackles rising.

"Ooh, aren't you scary!" the creature- Green guessed it was a girl- crossed her arms and grinned teasingly at him. Then she turned towards the rabbits, focusing on Blue who was purring ferociously, giving her his best death glare.

"Eee-hee! Are you sure you want to be doing that? All snarling and glaring at me? Ah, I was planning on helping you… if you were nice. That's too bad…" The effect was instantaneous. Wolf Link stopped growling, though he still looked cautious, and Red, Vio, and Green stopped glaring. However, Blue growled out of the side of his mouth,

"What are you guys doing? She could be dangerous!"

"She could also be helping us," Vio whispered.

"Eee-hee! That's better… except for you, I don't like your attitude," the implike creature flicked Blue absently on the nose as she floated over. He snapped at her, but she was already out of reach.

"Oh, most of you hylians are obedient to a fault, aren't you? Oh, but you aren't hylians anymore are you? You're animals, eee-hee!" she patted Wolf Link's chin, and jumping playfully back when he snapped at her, "Alright, I'll free you," she decided, "But not them, I don't like his attitude," she pointed at the cage, more specifically, the mad blue rabbit.

"What!" Blue complained. The imp smirked at him and grinned, turning to Wolf Link's chain. Putting her hands together, she made a ball of… stuff, magic he guessed, and threw it at the chain, snapping it.

"There you go! You look kind of surprised!" she said, watching Link examine his freed paw. "You can choose to help the others if you want, but I don't feel like letting them out!" the imp started to float languidly backwards, "So! I bet you're wondering where we are! Let's make a deal, if you find a way out of your cell, maybe I'll tell you!" she giggled, floating straight through the cell bars. She beckoned and then yawned and stretched dramatically, smirking at them all the while.

"I don't like her," Blue growled.

"Are you sure we can trust her?" Green asked Vio in a low voice.

"We'll have to," he answered grimly.

**1- The Four Swords Links turned into rabbits not because it shows what's in their heart, but because the Twilight turns them into 'a divine beast/creature.' Twilight Princess Link is a wolf because of this. True, I could have made them all the same thing, but where's the fun in that? So I made the others bunnies, also a divine creature and slight reference to ALTTP. Plus it's funnier that way.**

**A/N Well, here's the next chapter! Bet you weren't expecting rabbits! :D**


	5. Escape

**Blue**

Blue couldn't believe this. First he was sucked into a whole new world with no way of getting home, but then he had to get himself captured and turned into a stupid, cute, fluffy bunny. To add to his humiliation, he had to be shoved into a little rabbit hutch along with his annoying, bunnified counterparts, left to be rescued by another kid by the name of 'Link,' who got to become a wolf of all things, and a giggly black-and-white imp! A _rabbit_, really? That's the best he could do? It wasn't fair!

"Hurry up," he grumbled surly to Link the Wolf, who was trying to pry off the top of their cage. That was another huge downfall. He couldn't really sound mad about it. All he could end up with was a bunch of cute, high-pitched bunny noises.

"I'm ooing e esht I cam," he replied, as he chewed on the top of the hutch.

"Just calm down Blue and enjoy yourself!" Red exclaimed, "Try jumping! It's fun!"

"Calm down?! I am not calming down until I'm not a stupid rabbit anymore! I don't see how anyone in their right mind could be happy about this situation! Obviously you aren't!" he roared at the reddish bunny, laying his ears flat against his head.

"Blue! That was uncalled for!" Green yelled. Red looked upset, and probably would've been crying if he could, but at the moment, Blue really didn't care.

"Don't take it to heart, Red, Blue is just a little… _frustrated,_ right now," Vio soothed the upset rabbit. Then he turned to address Blue.

"Apologize," he ordered flatly. Blue didn't want to, wanting to hold on to the last shred of pride he still had, but he knew he probably should, and Vio wouldn't stop pestering him until he did.

"Sorry," he mumbled reluctantly after a few moments of inner battle. Immediately, Red brightened, shouting,

"Blue! You're the best!" and jumping on top of him, giving a frustrated Blue a hug as best he could.

"Get off me!" Blue shrugged the overenthusiastic Red off his shoulders and onto the wooden floor, "I didn't say I wanted to become a jungle gym! Go jump around on the other side of the cage!"

"You're no fun," Red pouted.

Outside of the jail cell, the imp giggled, "Eee-hee! Watching you is just like watching a circus!"

Speaking of that imp, she was of absolute no help, simply waiting on the other side of the bars, yawning, giggling, and dropping snide remarks. Blue didn't trust her. Plus her giggling was annoying.

"Shut up!" he roared at her, growling.

"Oh, now now, we don't want that temper getting out of hand do we? I could just decide to leave you here…"

Blue was seriously tempted to tell her to leave. His dislike for her was growing by the second. But he knew she was probably their only ticket out of this place, and he definitely didn't want to be left here. Thus, he settled for completely ignoring her. Just then, the cage rattled and he was showered with splinters. Wolf Link had rammed his head into the side of the hutch, bending the metal gated sides, and cracking the wooden top.

He rammed his head into the cage again, and it shattered. Blue hopped out of the wreckage, along with his counterparts. Red was right, he admitted reluctantly to himself, jumping _was _kind of fun.

"Ohh, my head hurts now," Wolf Link moaned. Blue was suddenly very glad that he was the rabbit, instead of the wolf. Bashing one's head against a metal-weave cage did _not_ sound fun.

"Hey guys, look over here!" Green called from where he was inspecting the larger jail's bars.

"What is it?" Red asked as he hopped over with the group.

"There's a hole here we can get through," Green explained, showing them a spot where the bars were bent and broken, leaving a nice gap between the metal poles and the floor. The rabbits fit through without a problem, but Link was another matter. He ended up having to dig his way out, because he was too large.

Once Link had made it through, paws and belly all dusty from crawling on the floor, Blue watched as he shook himself off and examined their new surroundings. All of a sudden, that annoying imp landed hard on the lupine's back. Immediately, Link tried to throw her off, jumping and snapping and spinning in circles.

"Hmph! I guess you hylians aren't completely stupid after all!" she exclaimed as Link, realizing his efforts were futile, stopped struggling, though he didn't look happy about it. Blue didn't blame him.

"Listen, I like you, so I think I'll get you out of here," the imp said, as she lounged on Link's back. Maybe being a rabbit did have some perks- like not having to carry annoying imps. She pulled on his ear and glanced shiftily at everyone before telling them, "but in exchange for my help, you all have to do _exactly_ as I say. If you need anything from me, just ask! Are we all clear?" She dropped Link's ear.

"Yes," everyone said, though some a little reluctantly.

"Good!" Midna smiled, "now, come on! Let's get moving! The entrance to the sewers is in that cell over there!" She pointed to a door inside an empty cell. Thankfully, the cell was open, so they wouldn't have to break in.

"Wait, Stop!" Red said, holding his hand out.

"What is it?" Green asked.

"Names! We can't call him Link when all the rest of us are named Link too!" he pointed at wolf Link, "you need a nickname!"

"You all are named Link too?" Wolf Link asked, shocked.

"Yes, though we nicknamed ourselves, he's Red, I'm Green, he's Blue, and he's Vio," Green explained, "We named ourselves off of the colors we always wear."

"Hmm, you have gray fur, so we'll call you Gray!" Red said. Blue groaned inwardly. _Not again._

"Huh, it's strange, but I suppose it'll do," the newly dubbed Gray agreed.

"Speaking of names, what's yours?" Vio asked the imp.

"Me? Eee-hee! If we get out of here, I might tell you!" she replied, winking the one eye that wasn't covered by the large stone hat she wore.

"When we get out of here, I want to get rid of you as fast as possible," Blue muttered to himself.

Then the group padded to the tunnel in the back of the empty cell, and entered the sewers.

**~/_\~**

**Zelda**

The first thing Zelda noticed after the harp's stopped making noise was silence. Usually, when you were in a room with four Links there was a lot of noise, but even when they were quiet, you could still hear them moving and breathing. There was none of that.

"Link?" Zelda asked cautiously as she turned around to survey the room. No-one was there. With a feeling of dread, she looked down at the decorated harp in her hands. It must have sent them through time. That was not good.

She examined the harp. Which strings had she touched? Was it three on the left and one on the right? Three on the right? Two in the middle? She didn't have the faintest idea. What had she done?

There was only one way to fix what had happened. Picking a few strings, she held her breath and plucked them, shutting her eyes. There was a rushing noise and a splat, and then it was over. Zelda opened her eyes, and shrieked. She was still in the same room, but standing in front of her was a large, green, raindrop-shaped, jellylike blob with a hideous grin plastered on its face. It turned towards her, still grinning idiotically, and prepared to leap. Quickly, Zelda plucked the same strings she had before, praying to all three goddesses that the monster would be sent away. There was another sound of rushing, and then the monster was gone.

Zelda thanked all three goddesses multiple times as she sighed in relief. At least she knew how to reverse it. Now all she needed was to discover which strings she had hit in the first place. Unfortunately, she had no idea which ones they were.

It was going to be a long day.

**A/N Yes! A new chapter! This one's a bit longer too. :D**

**Question: Should I do a Twilight Princess-themed quiz in the author note every chapter? If so, then tell me!**

**I also put a picture that I drew of Wolf Link, and the four Links as bunnies on my DeviantART if anyone wants to look at it, there is a link to my DA account on my profile!**

**Cheers!**


	6. To the Roof

**Gray**

The first thing that hit him was the smell. Normally, when he stepped into a sewer, which he definitely did not do very often, he expected it to smell bad. But with his heightened wolf senses, it was almost overwhelming.

"It smells _nasty_ in here, don't they ever clean this place?" Blue asked. Green scraped a line in the layer of green-gray slime and algae covering the wall.

"Nope, I don't think they do," he answered, wrinkling his nose and shaking his paw to get the gunk off.

"Yuck!" Red exclaimed, scooting away from the wall.

"I don't think the floor is any better, Red," Vio noted, glancing at the algae-covered floor.

Let's just get out of here as fast as possible," Gray said, eager to get away from the smell of mold and algae assaulting his nostrils, "which way do we go?" he asked the imp, who was still perching on his back.

"That way," the imp pointed and flashed him a bright smile, "Oooh! There's something interesting for you to see too!"

Indeed, as the group walked over, Grey spotted a, glowing, blue, slightly see-through form trembling while leaning on a spear.

"Huff… Huff…Can't… run… any… farther… that's… far enough… right? I'll be safe here… I think…" the man panted, a frightened look in his eyes.

"Hello?" Gray asked, approaching him, the chain on his leg rattling on the floor.

"What was that noise?! Don't… Don't anything come near me!" the guard panicked, glancing around, his eyes traveling right through the group of animals as if he couldn't see them.

"Sir, are you okay?" Green asked.

"He can't see you," the imp informed him, "that's a soldier's spirit. Maybe it's someone from the other world? Eee-hee!"

"What happened to him? And what other world?" Vio asked.

"You'll have to keep moving to find out!" she giggled.

"We can't just leave him here! What can we do?"Red asked.

"Oh don't worry about him, he's a guard, right? He can take care of himself," the imp waved a hand dismissively through the air, "Giddyup!" she kicked Gray's sides, making him jump and run forwards a few paces.

"Ow!" he complained. She had kicked _hard_.

"Well? I don't want to be here all day, get going before I decide to leave you all behind!" she ordered. That got the group moving.

Eventually, after all of them being soaked in sewer water, having their fur covered in algae and slime from walking and crawling through small tunnels, discovering that the imp could maneuver her fiery orange hair like a hand, and generally being grossed out and exhausted, they finally made it out into a tall room with a large spiral staircase.

"Where to… now?" Gray puffed.

"All the way up the stairs!" the imp piped cheerfully from where she sat on his back.

"I need a rest!" Red panted, flopping onto his side.

"And a bath! Green added.

"Let's sit here and take a break for a bit," Vio suggested.

"Fine by me," Blue agreed.

After taking a short break, they were eventually urged on by the impatient imp, and started clambering up the long, spiraling staircase. This was a little hard for the rabbits sometimes, because they had to make large leaps over several holes in the dilapidated stairs. Not to mention that they already had to jump up steps that were nearly as high as they were. Eventually at one point, much to the humiliation of Blue, Gray had to carry the four over a gap in the staircase so large that they couldn't jump the length by themselves.

After this humiliation, Blue grumbled at the imp, "Either we are _very_ far underground, or you're trying to take us to the roof. I hope for your sake it's the prior," Unfazed, the imp grinned lazily at him.

"You'll see," she said.

At long last, they finally reached a door at the top of the stairs. The black-and-white imp opened it with her hair-hand thing, and the door swung open, revealing… the roof.

"So, we were finally able to get out. And look at the sky! Isn't the black cloud of twilight looking beautiful today?" the imp exclaimed, stretching.

"I KNEW IT!" Blue roared, "that no-good imp brought us to the roof!"

**~/_\~**

**Vio**

Meanwhile, Vio gasped as he saw their surroundings. The sky was indeed tinted an eerie yellow-orange, with inky black clouds racing across it. It was beautiful in a strange sense, but Vio knew he definitely preferred a blue sky with white fluffy clouds. It seemed that wherever they were had been plunged into a world of never ending twilight.

"Look, we can see really far from up here!" Red exclaimed, always the optimist. Vio kind of liked that about him. He could find the bright side to anything.

"Do you know where this is?" the imp asked.

"No," Green replied and Gray shrugged, but Vio was thinking hard. This was definitely some kind of castle, and how many castles were in Hyrule? In his time, he knew there was one, but this world he hardly knew anything about. Still, he gave it a shot.

"We're in Hyrule Castle, aren't we?" he asked.

"Oooh, aren't you a smart one? Eee-hee!" the imp giggled, "Look, there's someone I want to introduce you all to, but I'll need you to go to that tower to do it!" she pointed towards the tower nearest them. Still, it was a couple of rooftops over. Not really something Vio wanted to walk after traversing a sewer and a really long, really holey spiral staircase.

"Let's just get this over with!" Blue growled, "Come on!" he raced across the rooftop.

Just then, there was a shrieking honk, and a black, shadowy bird with red highlights swooped down, lifting Blue right off of the rooftop. Blue shrieked in the horrible way only frightened rabbits do, and struggled to get free.

"Blue!" Green shouted, racing to help him with the rest of the group. Quickly assessing the situation, Vio shouted to Gray,

"Get over to the corner of the roof! Me, Green and Red will distract it and lead it over to you!" then he tried to catch the bird's attention, "Hey Bird-brain!" he yelled, rushing at it. As it turned to grab him in its free claw, Red leaped onto its wing, making it lose its balance and hit the roof, breaking a few shingles off. Unfortunately, it didn't drop the frustrated blue bunny. Honking in annoyance, it flew at the nearest rabbit it could spot. This happened to be Green. Realizing it was after him, Green rushed towards Gray, who now had good balance on the thickest point of the roof. Snarling, Gray floored the bird, gripping its neck in his teeth and shaking it until it dropped Blue. Then he flung it off the roof, and it didn't come back.

"Are you all right Blue?" Green asked, while Gray spat the vile taste of the bird out of his mouth.

"I… I don't know," he answered.

"Are you injured?" Vio asked.

"No, I don't think so… I just felt so… helpless. I couldn't do anything to help you guys! I didn't know what to do!" He looked pretty shaken up.

"Aw Blue, its okay," Red comforted him, "the good thing is that it's gone."

"But what if it happens again? What if I put you guys all in danger because I did something stupid or got captured?"

"Blue, it doesn't matter. It wasn't your fault. It doesn't do to dwell on that sort of thing, sometimes you can't control it. If it happens, it happens. We aren't going to blame you." Gray spoke up.

"But that's what I'm worried about! What if you end up getting seriously hurt trying to rescue me? What if… what if you _die _because of me?"

"Blue, don't worry about it, it'll just make you paranoid. It doesn't do to dwell on things like that. You just need to keep on moving forward. We aren't going to blame you about things beyond your control, and you shouldn't either," Gray answered, surprising the Links with his words of wisdom. They had nearly forgotten that he was a lot older than them. Vio was still surprised about Blue's worries. He had never seen him act like this. The blue hero looked like he would have been close to tears if he wasn't a rabbit.

"Now come on," Gray prodded Blue gently with his nose, "Let's get going to meet this person our little friend here wants us to meet."

"Friend, ha! Not quite," Blue joked, acting more like his old self. The imp scowled at him playfully. Together, they raced across the rooftops towards the doorway the imp directed them to. As they did, Vio heard Blue whisper softly to Gray, "Thank you."

Gray smiled softly.

**A/N Well, a more serious chapter today! Hope you enjoyed!**


	7. Princess Zelda

**Red**

As Red skipped along the rooftop, he pondered Blue's strange behavior. He had looked so sad, it made him upset too, though he hadn't said anything. Now, however, he was so joyful he felt like he was almost about to burst with happiness. He had sometimes wondered whether Blue really cared about the rest of them. Now he knew that deep down, Blue really did care for them all. He just tried not to show it.

He skipped along, trying to hum a song, but bunny throats didn't exactly work that way. It came out as more of a purr, _which_, Red thought, _at least shows I'm happy._

Eventually, the group reached an open window that led into a smaller spiral staircase.

"Up there," the imp pointed up the stairs, "There's a door at the top. The person I want you to meet is in there."

"Yay! We're almost there!" Red cheered.

"Finally," Blue grumbled, "I hope this trip was worth it."

Clambering up the stairs, they eventually reached a double-doorway. Pushing open the doors, Red spotted a cloaked figure staring melancholy out of a large window. The figure looked so depressed Red wanted to run over and comfort them as best he could, but he didn't think his friends would be too happy about that.

The imp giggled, and the figure turned to look at them. It was a young hylian woman, though Red couldn't tell who- not that he knew any girls in this time anyway. Her face was hidden behind a black scarf, like she was dressed for a funeral. It made Red sad, and want to cheer her up even more.

"Midna?!" the girl gasped.

"Eee-hee! You remembered my name? What an honor for me…" the imp said. So her name was Midna.

"So there are the ones you were searching for…" the girl gazed at all of them with her shadowed blue eyes. They seemed somewhat similar to… Zelda's.

"They're not exactly what I had in mind, but… I guess they'll do," Midna stroked her chin thoughtfully.

The girl crouched down so she could look into the animal's eyes better. Then she noticed the chain on Gray's leg.

"You were imprisoned?" she gazed sadly at the floor, "…I am sorry."

Red, unable to see someone so sad and _not_ do something, hopped timidly forward and nuzzled his face sympathetically into her cloak. The young woman glanced down and smiled softly at him.

"Poor things, they have almost no idea what's happened to them…" Midna said, sounding sympathetic, but she was smirking the whole time, "So, don't you think you should explain to them what you've managed to do? You owe them that much… Twilight Princess! Eee-hee!" She giggled as if she had made a great joke.

The girl looked down and lightly stroked Red's ear. It felt nice. The woman smiled sadly behind her scarf again, before tuning somber once more.

Gazing at everyone now, she said, "Listen carefully…" they all nodded.

"This was once the land where the power of the gods was said to slumber. This was once the kingdom of Hyrule. But that blessed kingdom has been transformed by the king that rules the twilight… It has been turned into a world of shadows, ruled by creatures who shun the light. Twilight covered Hyrule like a shroud, and without the light, the people became as spirits. Within the twilight, they live on, unaware that they have passed into spirit forms… All the people know now is fear… fear of a nameless evil… The kingdom succumbed to twilight, but I remain its princess," as she finished explaining, she stood up and lowered her hood and scarf, revealing a very familiar face.

"Zelda?" Green asked in surprise. Indeed, she looked almost exactly like a grown-up Zelda, except her hair was brown, straight, and styled differently in the back.

"I am Zelda," she confirmed unintentionally. She, being a hylian, couldn't understand animals.

"How is that possible? We're from a completely different time!" Blue exclaimed.

"If you bother to think about it, our Zelda is descended from a long line of queens, a few who were also named Zelda," Vio explained, "This could be her ancestor."

"What do you mean?" Gray asked. They had completely forgotten to explain their predicament to him.

"We are from a different time. We don't know if we were sent to the future or past, nor how far, but I'm guessing the past," Vio elucidated.

"Oh," Gray said when Midna interrupted their conversation.

"Well this is all very interesting, but I want to know why you-" she looked at Zelda- "look so sad. We actually find twilight to be quite livable!"

"Livable?! You call sewers and constantly dark skies livable?" Blue exclaimed. Ignoring him, Midna continued.

"I mean, is perpetual twilight really all that bad?" the imp grinned and stretched.

"Midna, this is no time for levity. The shadow beasts have been searching far and wide for you. Why is this?" Zelda asked as Midna floated up in the air, sitting cross-legged and facing away from her.

"Why indeed? You tell me! Eee-hee! Just then, footsteps and talking was heard in the distance.

Zelda stood up in alarm and explained hurriedly, "Time has grown short. The guard will soon make his rounds. You must leave here quickly."

"Will you be okay?" Red asked, but unfortunately Zelda didn't speak rabbit. Midna ushered him out of the room, saying,

"She'll be fine, let's go!" She jumped onto Gray's back and they charged out of the room. They ran back to the window and clambered out not a moment too soon. The guard had just started climbing the stairs. As they clambered out onto the roof, Midna floated ahead and did a few flips before coming to land in front of them.

"Well, I guess a promise is a promise, so I'll let you guys go back to where you first stumbled into twilight… But… are you really sure you should be going back?" she teased.

"Of course!" Blue snarled. The imp sat back and grinned, focusing on Gray.

"Are you sure you aren't forgetting anything important?" she prodded, "How about… the children? Ilia? Eee-hee! Do you want to save them?"

"O-of course! I have to!" Gray gasped.

"Well in that case, little Midna would be happy to help you! But… well, you'll have to be my servants… and like servants, you'd have to do exactly as I say!"

"What?!" Green gasped. Blue and Gray obviously didn't like the idea either.

"Forget it!" Blue growled, "I'm not being anyone's servant!"

"But we can't just leave everybody in danger!" Red protested.

"Red's right, she's our only way of navigating the twilight," Vio agreed, "I don't like the idea of being anyone's servant any more than you do, but she's our only chance."

"Why don't you go back, take a little time, and give it some thought? Eee-hee-hee!" Midna suggested.

Without warning, everyone dissolved into twilight squares and flew into a portal in the sky.

**A/N Well, here it is! I set up a poll on my profile asking whose point of view you like best! Whichever POV wins just may get more frequent chapters starring them!**

**Guest- I am trying to keep everyone IC, but if I see an opportunity, I will!**


	8. Orders from an Imp

**Blue**

When the group landed again, Blue decided that twilight travel made him just as sick as time travel did. Then, he had a few realizations. First, they were back in the spring they had found Gray in. Second, Midna was gone. The last realization was the most horrible. He was still an adorable, fluffy bunny.

Then he did a double-take. _She had teleported them._

"_What?!_" he raged, "That imp made us go through all that when she could have just teleported us out?! I don't _believe_ this! That little-"

"Oh that's what you think? I guess I forgot to mention that!" Midna's voice said from nowhere, leaving everyone to glance around, "That teleport only works outside buildings. Besides, I wanted you to meet Princess Zelda! By the way, while in the light, I can only appear as a shadow," The disembodied voice explained as a dark, shady outline of the imp herself leaped out of Gray's shadow.

And… why are we still animals?" Vio asked as Blue grumbled something under his breath about teleports and annoying imps.

"Eee-hee! You won't turn back anytime soon either! Now why could that be?" she teased, "Listen, there's another thing I forgot to tell you…" she waggled a finger in front of Gray's nose, "Don't think you can just run off and save your friends, because you can't. Just beyond the bridge, the land is covered in twilight. Last time, a shadow beast pulled you through the curtain of twilight… But if you want to go that way this time, you'll need the cooperation of someone _from_ the twilight, like me! So you really have no choice but to do as I say. Saving your friends and all that… Well, that'll depend on your actions… Because you can never trust words, you know."

"Are you calling us liars?" Green growled. _He took the words right out of my mouth,_ Blue thought.

"Eee-hee! One can never be too careful. Right now, I want a sword and a shield that'll suit me."

"Great, go grab a stick," Blue muttered under his breath. Vio shot him a warning glance. Ignoring him, the imp continued.

"You do understand me, don't you? Eee-hee! So, what do you plan to do? While you're here dawdling, the twilight continues to expand. Come on! Hurry it up!" She jumped back into Gray's shadow.

"Where do we get a sword and shield?" Red asked. Gray sighed.

"I guess we have no choice but to listen to her… I know where they are, but… It'd mean stealing from my own village," he explained.

"Well, if it's the only way to save the children, I'm sure they'd understand, right?" Red asked, "We can just have Midna talk to them and explain things, can't we? Then we might not have to steal them, right Midna?"

"Oh no, eee-hee! They won't listen to me! They'll be too scared! Come to think of it… they won't like _you_ either, Gray! They'll be scared because you are a beast! Ah, I don't know what they'll think of the rabbits, though. They might not like you guys either, because rabbits typically eat their crops and seeds."

Blue had a sudden disturbing image of himself foraging for food in a garden and getting rammed on the head with a spade. He hated being a bunny.

"Let's get this over with," he growled to the others, "Lead the way, Gray."

Gray led them down a long, hilly path away from the bridge. Along the way, they met up with a strange, green-skinned creature with a club. It barked, and ran at them, dragging its club on the ground. Immediately deciding it was an enemy, the four rabbits charged at it in a flurry of colorful fur, teeth, and claws. They leapt on him, scratching and biting until the creature collapsed and disappeared in a soft explosion. Turning around triumphantly, Blue saw Gray staring at them.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing, just, that was… interesting," Gray answered awkwardly.

"What was that?" Green asked.

"A bulblin," Midna's voice answered impassively. Blue could almost imagine her daintily examining her fingers when she said this.

"Well come on, let's get going, we're almost there," Gray said, proceeding to follow the path again. The rest followed. Soon, they reached a small clearing where a house sat in a tree.

"Cool! It's a treehouse!" Red exclaimed.

"That's the house I live in," Gray explained, "The bulk of the village is just down that way," he pointed down another dirt path with his tail.

"You have an awesome house!" Red told him, "Does everyone live in trees?" Gray grinned wolfishly.

"No, only me. Now come on, let's get this over with."

Together, the small group entered the village.

**~/_\~**

**Zelda**

_Well, here goes nothing,_ Zelda thought, as she braced herself for something to happen. She plucked three strings on the harp, biting her lip. _Please work, please work…_ she begged in her mind. Then, there was a rushing noise, and a short, hovering figure appeared. It was a strange flying robot, the propeller on its head spinning madly, clutching what looked like a pinwheel.

"Where am I? Why am I here? _Dzzt!_" It asked incredulously, "I have to deliver this for Mistress Fi! _Vrrrt!_"

"Oh, I- I'm sorry," Zelda said, "I'm Zelda, what are you called?"

"I am LD 301S Scrapper. Your name is Zelda?! _ZRRPT-FOOSH!_ That is the name of one of Master Shortpants' friends. Are you her? _Dzzt!_"

"Who's Master Shortpants? I don't think I know anyone with that name," Zelda said.

"Master Shortpants is a kid knight! _Whizzt!_ He wears green and a long pointy hat! _Dzzt!_"

"That sounds like Link!" Zelda exclaimed.

"Yes, that is his real name, _Vrrrt!_"

"Is he okay?" she gasped.

"Master Shortpants is fine. _Bzzt!_ Now, I must deliver this! _Vrrrt!_" Scrapper held up the pinwheel.

"Right… I'll take you home then," Zelda said, plucking the right strings on the colorful instrument she held. There was a rushing noise, and Scrapper and his pinwheel were gone. Zelda sighed. At least Link was okay… But hadn't all four Links been teleported? Scrapper had only spoken of one. What if they were all separated? This was not good…

**IMPORTANT! READ THIS‼ - I probably won't be updating for a few weeks, because my life is about to get pretty chaotic with school overload and visiting family, so yeah. I would have updated sooner, but I'm kinda sick right now, and had a horrible headache yesterday that made it hard to work on this. Anyway, don't expect any updates soon, but I will try my best!**


	9. All in this Together

**Gray**

The first thing Gray noticed about his village was the sadness that seemed to emanate from every corner. He began to get more worried and apprehensive than he already felt about stealing from Ordon. He had only witnessed Ilia's capture. What if those monsters had taken the rest of the children as well? Midna had definitely hinted at it. If they _had_ stolen the children, why hadn't they taken him away as well? Or maybe they did, and the rest of them were still in Hyrule Castle's dungeon, living as spirits and oblivious to the twilight.

_Stop it,_ he told himself, _you don't know if the children are even gone at all. That imp Midna hasn't proved herself to be trustworthy yet._

But still, the nagging doubts lingered.

Stepping further into the village, Gray noted that, though it had been light out when they were in the spring, the sky was now almost pitch black, stars slowly showing up in the night. Torches were lit all around the village, mainly around houses. A few quiet whispers could be heard in the distance.

"Well, here goes nothing," Gray sighed heavily and approached the voices.

**Vio**

Vio had noticed Gray getting more apprehensive and miserable. He wanted to say something to console him, but he just didn't know what. Red was the more empathic one, he would probably think of something, but it was still in his nature to try and help anyone- especially if that person was his friend. It was strange, he hardly knew Gray, yet he somehow felt… connected to him. He had thought long and hard about it, and Vio felt he had found the answer. If he was correct, he and his counterparts had traveled back through time and were now running around with their ancestor.

The thought that in all of Hyrule, somewhere, somehow, the first person they had met, and even got captured and escaped jail with, was their ancestor- it was a little mind-boggling. It couldn't be just chance, could it? Did the goddesses have something to do with this?

Suddenly, a voice shouted from above, "A Beast! Get away you monster!"

Vio glanced up just in time to find a short man blowing into some sort of reed grass. Then a hawk soared down out of the sky and dove at the group of animals, screeching loudly.

"Run!" Green yelped, as the whole group was shoved backwards by the bird. The group turned tail and ran, though Vio noted that Gray seemed more worried and saddened than he had moments ago. Once they were far enough away, the hawk left them alone and soared away.

Examining Gray's head and tail drooping, Vio was about to ask what was wrong, but Red beat him to it.

"What's wrong, Gray?" the small red rabbit asked quietly.

"I… I just don't know what to do. I don't know what happened to the children and Ilia, or even if they're alive or dead, eternal twilight is about to cover this village, and I'm stuck as a beast! Then I had to escape from a jail, and now I'm finding I have to steal from my own home village. Not even anyone I grew up with recognizes me!" he shuffled his paws, "…I'm just so lost… I don't know what to do," Gray's voice wavered.

Vio understood now. He noticed Green and Blue staring in surprise, and Red cuddling the large gray wolf gently. This whole time, Gray had been leading, pushing them forward, and comforting them, but in reality, it wasn't himself and the others who needed comforting the most… It was Gray.

"You haven't had anything like this happen to you before, have you?" Green asked. Gray shook his shaggy head.

"That's okay, you will get everyone home safely, and we will get out of this mess," Red spoke up quietly, "and the four of us will stick with you every step of the way," he assured the wolf.

"Yeah, we won't let you down," Blue agreed. Gray looked like he was feeling a little bit better. His tail and head weren't drooping so much.

"Thanks guys," he said, "I really do appreciate it."

"Shhhh!" Blue hissed, "I hear voices."

"They're too far away to hear from here, I'll get closer," Vio spoke up, and snuck through the tall green grass towards the voices. As he got closer, he caught sight of the two hylians talking. One was a large, stout man with a strange-looking blond mustache shaped like two horns coming out of his upper lip. The other was a less imposing sight. Slightly on the scrawny side, the guy was almost as short as the one that had thrown the hawk at them. However, Vio could tell he was probably stronger than he looked. The main thing that caught his attention was the item the shorter man was clutching in his hands.

A shield.

Then the voices were in hearing range.

"…We go inside?" the stout man asked.

"No, I thing Hanch has the 'beast' under control. You know how jumpy he is at night, especially now that the children are gone. For all we know, it could be a poor lost dog." Moustache Man countered.

"Still, I think we should, after the children were stolen, I don't trust anything out there."

Vio, sensing this was his only chance before the shield was brought indoors, darted out from the tall grass straight towards the two men. Racing past them, he braced his hind legs and gave a mighty leap, sailing straight through one of the large wooden shield's arm straps, hooking it around his neck and ripping it out of the unsuspecting man's arms. Vio raced away back towards the others, shield in tow. Reaching them, he stopped, panting as he presented his catch.

"A shield for you," he told Midna, as she popped out of Gray's shadow. Inspecting it, the only comment she made was rather disappointing.

"It looks… kind of cheap," she noted.

"Like it or not lady, that's the shield we found, so that's the shield you're gonna get! Any questions?" Blue stormed.

"Fine," Midna waved a hand disdainfully through the air, "I guess it'll do. Alright then, next is a sword! Hurry up and get one!" she disappeared into Green's shadow.

"I'll carry it," Gray offered, clumsily hoisting the wooden shield onto his back. Then he sighed heavily, "We'll have to take the sword from Rusl's house, though I really don't like stealing from him. He's like a father to me."

"Well, we don't really have a choice," Green sighed, "I don't like stealing either, but it's the only way to save everyone. Come on, let's get this over with."

**A/N Hi‼ I'm back! Soooo sorry I didn't update for so long! I tried, I really did, but I just didn't have time with family visiting and school, and then I got a nasty case of writer's block… ah, oh well, it's up now! I hope the wait was worth it! I will try to update much sooner next time. Enjoy!**


	10. More Stealing

**Red**

Red didn't like stealing. He knew it was necessary and all, but that still didn't make him feel any better about it. He felt especially sorry for Gray. It was ten times worse to steal from people you know. Still, it didn't do to dwell on things like that too much. It made one miserable, and that was one thing Red was not.

Looking up, Red noticed that everyone was watching Green, who was staring awkwardly at Gray.

"What? Why is everyone looking at me? Gray is the one who knows where Rusl's house is!"

"Good point," Blue noted, and then glanced at Gray, "Just one question. Who's leading this group? Because sometimes it seems like Green is taking charge, but other times it's Gray, and even more often it's Midna. Who is it?" Gray and Green glanced at each other, not sure what to think.

"Obviously it's me," Midna popped out of Green's shadow, "I'm the one telling you what to do."

"But you're not much of a help, either," Blue growled, "You're not even visible half the time! I'm talking about someone who will actually do their job and _lead!_ Not just give orders! So," he glared at Green and Gray, "Which one of you is it?" Green raised a paw.

"I think it should be Gray, he knows this place much better than we do," he voted.

"Um, can't we be joint-leaders or something? I mean, I'm not all that great or experienced in leading, and I don't like to in the first place," Gray suggested.

"Sounds fine with me," Green shrugged.

"Eee-hee! You still have to do as I say! You're taking too long on getting that sword!" Midna yawned, disappearing into Blue's shadow.

"Hey! Go in somebody else's shadow! I don't want you in mine!" Blue snarled, side-jumping and trying to get his shadow away from him.

Red giggled. It looked pretty funny.

"Enough with that, Blue," Vio interrupted the scene, though he was suppressing a smile, "We should get going."

"Right," Gray said, "Um, Rusl's house is this way…" he turned and headed up a small, sloping path towards a solitary house. In the firelight, Red could see the faint outline of a sword leaning against the house. Unfortunately, sitting next to it was a tall man with a rectangular face, peering out into the night.

"We'll have to cause a distraction," Vio whispered.

"I'll do it! I know what to do!" Red whispered back. He had an idea. Everyone hated rabbits, especially in their gardens because they dug up all of the vegetables and ate them. Come to think of it, since he had become a rabbit, he'd had a strange desire for lettuce. Maybe there was some in the garden at the side of the house he was about to noisily invade.

Hopping out in plain sight, Red cheerfully made a beeline towards the garden, hopping and landing as noisily as he could. Reaching it, he shuffled through all the vegetables looking for the lettuce. There was none. The garden nearly completely consisted of pumpkins. Using his nose, he searched for something that was not a squash. Finding a root, he dug it up and sniffed it. Deciding that he didn't know what it was, he took a bite.

Mmm, not bad. Garden raids were kind of fun.

Unfortunately or not, that was the moment the square-faced guy decided to get up and stomp over, yelling at him. Red knew he had to keep him distracted until Gray had time to take the sword, so he bolted behind a pumpkin, making sure that his ears were still visible for the man to follow. They played 'chase around the garden' for a few moments until Blue raced over.

"Okay, get out of here! We've got it!" He exclaimed. Together, the two rabbits bolted away down the path to the entrance of Ordon.

**~/_\~**

**Zelda**

Zelda prayed to all the goddesses that something useful would come from the harp this time. Bracing herself, she plucked the two strings she had selected at random. There was the familiar windy sound, and Zelda looked up to see… herself?

"Wha- Where am I?" Her copy asked.

"Um, the Four Sword chamber… Who are you?" Zelda asked. After doing a double-take, she realized this Zelda had a few differences. For one, she looked a lot younger, and her hair was straight instead of wavy. Also, she lacked the red bow that she always tied the front of her hair back with.

I'm… Zelda," she answered cautiously, "Who are you?"

"My name is also Zelda, I am princess of Hyrule. I'm trying to send my friends back to this time with this harp after I accidentally moved them away, but… I've been selecting random combinations because I have no idea which one I hit in the first place! Sorry about getting you here on accident," Zelda shuffled her feet uncomfortably.

"So I'm in a different time? Do you know when I'm from? You could be my descendant!"

"I could be, but you just might be my descendant. However, I don't know what time you're from. I don't really know how this harp works. All I know is that when you hit strings, something or someone travels through time, and if you hit them again, they go back to the same place they were before."

"Oh. So you know how to send me home?" Other Zelda asked

"Yes, I could send you back right now if you want to-"

Oh, no no! I want to stay and help you find your friends! It looks like you'll need it! Besides, it's awfully boring sitting in my room all day with nothing to do but sign papers, write speeches, and play my Spirit Flute, but Chancellor Cole says I should stay there. Here, I can have an adventure! This will be exciting!" Other Zelda clapped her hands together and looked excitedly at Zelda, hands still clasped in front of her, "May I please stay?"

"I… guess, but you need a nickname, we can't both be called Zelda.'

"Oh thank you!" Other Zelda cheered, and then rubbed her hand on her chin, "A nickname? Hmm," she thought for a moment, "You wear a red bow on your head, so you can be Red, and since I'm only wearing a gold crown, I'll be Gold!" Other Zelda explained enthusiastically.

"No, I can't do that," Zelda explained.

"Why not?" Other Zelda deflated a little.

"I already know someone nicknamed Red, in fact, he's one of the people I'm trying to get back. He and his counterparts, Green, Blue, and Vio. How about I'll be Zelda, and you be Young Zelda. I _think_ you're younger than me, at least you look it."

"Well, I guess it works. Alright then! How about we get started on that harp? But first, let me write down which strings you plucked for me, otherwise I might never get home!"

**A/N So, now another Zelda is joining the harp adventure! What kind of trouble can two Zeldas get into?**

**Young Zelda is Spirit Tracks Zelda if you didn't catch the hints. She is from a little before Link becomes an engineer and the whole fiasco in her time starts.**

**If you were wondering, no, though it may sound like it now, I am not a Midna hater. I actually really like her, but in the beginning, she really is that sassy. Her character will develop for the better throughout the story, just like it does in the game.**

**Well, I forgot to add some stuff to my last author's note! I am now a beta, so if you want me to proofread your stuff for you I would be more than happy to. If you are curious as to what I'm like as a beta, you can look me up in the beta profiles.**

**Also, I made another fanart of the Links as bunnies and threw it on DeviantART. My username there is LionsRoar787, and there is a link to that account on my profile.**

**Now for the guest reviewer!**

**Snuffles- Thanks! Glad you like it! :D**

**Long author note today… That is all. Cheers!**


	11. Eating Problems

**Blue**

Blue hoped he could become a hylian again _very_ soon. He was getting hungry, and his rabbit tendencies gave him a strong craving for vegetables. He had no wish to find out what Gray was hungry for. At any rate, he was keeping his distance from the probably ravenous wolf. He noticed that none of them had eaten since before they were thrown in prison. That was at least half a day ago, probably more. However, he wasn't going to bow down and ask. He didn't want anyone to think he was weaker than them. To his relief, Green said it for him.

"Can we stop and eat soon? We haven't eaten in a while and I'm tired," Green panted.

"All right, I'm kind of hungry too," Gray agreed. The group stopped and sat down, "We don't really have any supplies, so we'll just have to forage for it," he notified us. Just Great.

"I saw some great looking green onions growing a little while back," Red piped up helpfully, "I can go get some!"

"Alright, how about you and Vio go get those and anything else you can find, while Green and Blue gather stuff from around here," Gray suggested, "I'm going to hunt for myself, I don't think vegetables are going to be enough for me."

"Sounds like a good plan," Vio agreed, "Everyone good with that?"

"I am!" Red exclaimed.

"Me too," Green said.

"I guess," Blue grunted.

"Wait, Midna, what do you eat?" Red asked.

"Me? I don't eat, eee-hee!" the shadow replied **(1)**.

"One less person to worry about," Blue muttered under his breath.

"Let''s go!" Red cheered, and darted down the path, Vio following behind him. Blue rolled his eyes.

After a while, the four Links had gathered a sizeable salad of edible plants, leaves, flowers, and a few berries. They sat around it, which only made Blue hungrier than he had been before.

"Uh, should we wait for Gray to get back?" Green asked.

"No, who knows when he'll get back," Vio said, bending his head to chew on some raspberries.

"Okay!" Red dug into the food as well, Blue and Green following his actions.

Blue ate as fast as he could, he hadn't known how hungry he was until he actually started eating.

"Slow down, Blue, or you'll get hiccups," Vio warned.

"I'm hungry," Blue shot back and continued inhaling his food.

In a couple of minutes, Gray arrived at the scene, a squirrel hanging from his jaws.

"I take it you had some luck?" Vio asked, noting the dead animal.

"Yef," Gray affirmed, his voice muffled from the squirrel's fur. Dropping it on the ground, he bit into it, chewing his bite ravenously.

"You're eating it _raw? _Yuck!" Red exclaimed. Blue had to agree with him. It looked gross. Gray gazed at him emotionlessly.

"I'm a wolf, what do you expect me to do?" he asked, and returned to his meal.

"I feel sick," Green groaned. He did look a little green. Then again, that was the natural color of his fur. Vio looked like he was trying to ignore Gray's eating habits, though his nose was crinkled.

"I think I lost my appetite," Red moaned, looking miserable.

"That's what wolves eat. Deal with it," Blue grumbled, though secretly he had also felt a little sick. He ducked his head so he couldn't see Gray and continued eating, though he wasn't hungry anymore. Despite the appalling sight of Gray eating raw squirrel, he knew he had to keep up his strength.

**~/_\~**

After they had all eaten, some more so than others, the group continued down the path. As they passed the spring they had met Gray in, a voice called out to them from the water.

"Wait…" it called, Come… to my spring…"

"Huh?" Blue asked. Gray was staring in shock.

"Come on," the wolf walked into the spring. The voice spoke again.

"You have… been transformed… by the power… of shadow…" its voice echoed slightly, "Come… to me…"

"Who are you?" Vio asked, staring around the empty spring.

"Beware…" it answered, "A shadow being… It approaches…" Just then, the group was surrounded by a circle of black, knobby stakes that fell from the sky. Between the sticks, slightly glowing transparent walls flared, surrounding them in a large trap.

"The voice tricked us!" Blue roared.

"No it didn't, it warned us," Vio disagreed. That was when the portal formed above them. A big, black-and-red swirling vortex hanging in the sky. From it, a singular shadowy creature fell. It reminded blue of vaguely of the bulblin they had faced earlier, if the thing had been enlarged, painted black, had a large, flat, creepy gray mask shoved on its face, had long, fat black noodles growing out of its head, and ran around on all fours. Something like that.

Gray started growling, and the rabbits crouched down in defense. The shadow beast snarled and charged at them. Immediately, the rabbits pounced and grabbed the first thing they could get their mouths around. For Blue, this happened to be the noodle-hair. It did not taste in the slightest like noodles. It was more like chewing on horse dung that had been dragged through a puddle of red potion and then burned to a crisp. At any rate, it did not taste good.

In the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Vio on the thing's back, Green on its left arm, and Red clawing its feet. The weight of the four of them collapsed it onto the ground, and they jumped off. It tried to struggle back up, but Gray pounced on it, grabbing its neck and shaking his head violently. The thing screeched in anger and collapsed.

Unexpectedly, once it was down, the shadow being evaporated into little black squares and flew up into the portal, which was now a bluish color. The barrier disappeared and everyone cautiously examined their surroundings, making sure there was nothing else hiding anywhere.

"Look!" Red gasped, watching the rocks above the spring's short waterfall. Everyone gasped as they caught sight of it. Four rocks sticking out of the water now had glowing runes light up in some language Blue didn't know. He watched as they bathed the spring in a pale golden light. The water in front of them rippled and a golden ball like a mini sun floated out of it. Around it, the radiant form of a goat faded into existence, the ball between its antlers.

"Ordona?" Gray gasped.

"Who?" Red asked.

"Shh," Vio told him.

Oh brave youth… I am indeed Ordona, the first of four light spirits that protect Hyrule at the behest of the goddesses. The black beast you five slayed was a shadow being. It had come to seize the power of light that I wield. My brethren in Hyrule have already had their light stolen by these fell beasts. The entire kingdom has been reduced to a netherworld ruled by the cursed powers of darkness. The blight will not stop with Hyrule. Before long, the entire world of light will fall into the hands of the king who rules the twilight."

"You mean that world that turned us into animals and turns everyone else into spirits?" Vio asked.

"Yes, that is the twilight," Ordona confirmed.

"What can we do to stop it?" Green asked.

"To save this land from the king of twilight, the lost light must be recovered. The three light spirits who have lost their light must be revived. There are very few who can revive them and redeem this land. All five of them are standing in front of me, although one of them has not yet discovered his true power."

Blue glanced at Gray. She… or he, must mean him.

"Those transformed by the twilight usually cannot recover their true forms…" Ordona continued.

"So I'm stuck as this rabbit forever? That's just terrific!" Blue complained.

"I am not done yet, young one... There is a way."

"How?" Gray asked before Blue could reply.

If you were to return to Faron Woods, where you were first transformed… If you revived the light spirit there, by the power of the light spirit, you may find the means to regain your other state of being."

"Great! Let's go!" Blue said.

"I bid you good luck…" Ordona said as she (Blue was going with 'she' by her name) faded away, leaving only the slowly rising sun as a source of light.

"Come on, let's do this," Green said, and hopped out of the spring. Blue led the way across the bridge towards the large wall of twilight that had gotten them thrown in jail last time. they stopped in front of the thrumming black and gold barrier. Midna popped out of Blue's shadow, a more serious and solemn air around her.

"Hey, look... you might not be able to come back here, are you sure you want to do this?" she asked. Everyone nodded, and she floated through the wall, warning them, "Stay grouped together, so I can bring you all in at once."

The Links waited awkwardly close together for a few moments, before a large orange hand the same color of Midna's hair- which she was probably using- popped out, grabbed them, and dragged them into the twilight.

**1- I have no idea what a twili eats, or even if they do, so I'm just saying they don't, because Midna is a shadow right now. What and how can a shadow eat? I have no clue, so not needing to eat is the solution. She ****_can_****, but she doesn't have to. **


	12. Light Spirits and Bugs

**Green**

Everyone landed hard on the ground when Midna's hand let go of them. Scrambling onto his feet, Green checked to see if everyone was all right. He noticed Midna was back in her solid implike form. Once he saw what she was doing, he had to bite back a laugh.

The imp was sitting on Gray's back, which wasn't very new. What _was_ new was that the imp was wielding the sword, and wearing the shield… on her face.

"Hmm, so these are the weapons you use in your world? She asked.

"Yes, but the shield doesn't go on your f-" Green stopped mid-sentence and gasped as Midna swung the sword a few times, several nearly clipping Gray on the back of the head. Gray, wisely, ducked his head and whimpered.

"Hey! Watch it! What do you think you're doing?!" Blue snarled. Indifferent, Midna held up the sword.

"Do you really think that thing can slay the creatures of twilight?"

Gray started growling. Midna took the shield off of her face and dropped the two items, the wooden shield landing hard on Gray's face.

"Well," she leaned back and crossed her arms, "I won't use these, but I'll hang on to them for you!" The items dissipated into little black squares which disappeared.

"_WHAT?! _You make us go through all of that and now you're not even going to _use_ them?!" Blue roared. Green was feeling the same, though he didn't voice it, "What kind of-" Blue stopped his rant suddenly and laid his ears back in embarrassment as his throat emitted a hiccupping noise.

Momentarily forgetting Midna, everyone stared at the mortified blue rabbit.

"I told you not to eat so fast…" Vio noted.

Blue hiccuped again and grumbled, "I know, I know… Do you know how to *_hic_* stop them?" Since he was so small, whenever he hiccupped, his whole body would jump. It looked a little ridiculous.

"Try holding your breath," Vio suggested. Blue, disgruntled, did as Vio suggested. However, it made his eyes bug out. Green, feeling sorry for him, faced Midna.

"Are you going to help us or not?" he asked, drawing everyone else's attention away from Blue as well.

"Well, I guess a promise is a promise, I trust you guys enough to help you," Midna responded, leaning forward on Gray's back, "In exchange for my help, though, I need you to gather some things for me!"

We are _not_ *_hic_* stealing again!" Blue thundered. Green agreed.

"Oh, you're not stealing! It's more of a search-and-find! Well, I can't tell you all of the details now, but it'll be easy, trust me."

Just then, Red, who had been silent up until now, finally spoke up, twitching his ear.

"Hey, what's that noise?" he asked, "It sounds so sad."

Green stopped to listen, perking up his long ears. The sound that greeted them was a beautiful, melancholy melody that sounded utterly sad and miserable. Yet, it was also beautiful in a strange sense.

"Oh, that noise? That's the lamentation of the spirit that had its light stolen," Midna informed them, "Where in the world could it be? Eee-hee! Better get going don't you think? Don't blame me for your world's fate if you don't hurry up and find that light! Snap to it!" She leaned forward on Gray's back

"Come on," Gray growled surly, glaring at Midna, who had just punched his sides with her legs like she was kicking a horse. The group started forward, Gray in the lead because he had an idea where the spirit was. Gray led them down a sloping path into a small clearing. In the middle of passing through it, several familiar knobbed stakes fell from the sky, landing around them in a circle.

"Not again," Green groaned as the trap sprung to life, another portal in the sky forming. This time, instead of dropping only one shadow being, three fell from the swirling portal in the sky. The five got into their own battle positions.

"Pffft! Who do they think they're dealing with?" Midna scoffed, "There's five of you, and only three of them! No need to take the little pests one at a time, right? Just take them all at once!"

"She's right," Vio added,

"So, you guys can handle this by yourselves, can't you? Good luck! Bye!" Midna leaped off of Gray's back and flew straight out of the trap.

"Get back here you coward!" Blue raged, running at her.

"Blue, watch out!" Vio warned as a shadow being reached out to grab the rabbit. Blue squealed, enraged as the shadow beast lifted him into the air. Green raced towards him to help, but Blue didn't need as much as he thought. The rabbit twisted, sinking his sharp teeth into the being's hand. It dropped him, hissing. Then Green reached them and leaped into the fray. The two bunnies bit and scratched relentlessly until the beast collapsed onto the ground, unmoving.

"Take that," Blue spat, turning to examine how everyone else was doing. Green turned around too, just in time to watch Gray ferociously take down beast number two. It seemed they were doing well, until the third shadow beast screamed. The shriek was so loud and nasty, Green felt like his head was going to explode. He tried to clamp his paws over his ears until the noise stopped. To his horror, Green watched as the two downed shadow beings clambered back onto their feet.

Midna, who had come back to ride on Gray again, asked, "What's the holdup? If you leave the last one alive, it'll just use that shriek to bring the others back. Listen, if you get in the right position, I can expand an energy shield to kill multiple enemies at the same time."

"Now you help," Blue muttered.

"I was just proving that you needed my help!" Midna grinned, "How far do you think you'd get without me? Now come on, before those creeps catch you unawares! Gray, crouch down and prepare to jump when I tell you!"

Gray grumbled something under his breath and nodded, getting into position. Gray and Midna approached the shadow beings, who charged eagerly towards the wolf and imp. When they were close enough, Midna concentrated, and a black ring of energy erupted in a circle around her, ensnaring all three of the black beasts.

"Jump now!" Midna ordered. Gray jumped and flew through the air faster than should be possible, dealing a neat, deathly blow to all three monsters in quick succession.

The shadowy trio collapsed and evaporated into the now-green portal, the barrier disappearing as well. Gray stood, panting, in the middle of the clearing, Midna lounging on his back as if nothing had happened.

"That was… a bit of a rush," Gray noted. Midna giggled.

"Shouldn't you be checking on your dear light spirit now? Eee-hee! I daresay he has been waiting for you long enough!"

That jolted everyone back into action. Gray once again took the lead and brought them to a spring where a faint light was swirling in the center of the water.

"Please… Be careful… These woods have changed…" the light said, "The dark clouds of dusk… twilight… cover my lands… In this twilight, those who live in the light… become as spirits…

"Like that guard we saw in Hyrule Castle?" Red asked Green in a low voice. Green nodded grimly.

"It is a place… where dark and evil things thrive…" the light- which Green assumed was the spirit- continued, "I… am a spirit… of light…" Here the voice faltered slightly. Now Green knew for certain that it was, indeed, the spirit they were looking for, and from the way it sounded, it was using a lot of it's energy to talk to them. This was not good.

"Look… for my light… Retrieve the light stolen by the dark beasts… and keep it in this vessel…" Out of the light grew a delicate, golden carrier that looked like a long string of fern fiddleheads. Midna caught it and went back to Gray's back.

"Go… Find the dark insects that hold the light… There are… sixteen of them… I will grant you a map to guide your way…" Midna took the map produced by the light and gasped in surprise, showing it to everyone else. The map was magical. Back where Green was from, magic maps were somewhat hard to find and make. Judging from Gray and Midna's expressions, those sort of maps were just as rare- maybe even more so. Examining closer, Green could see sixteen blue dots on the map, probably marking the insects, and five triangles, one green, one blue, one purple, one red, and one yellow.

"Huh, I don't get a marker," Midna noted with a frown, "Oh well, I'll just have to stick with one of you!"

"You must hurry… Find my light…" the spirit urged.

"All right, all right, we get the point," Midna waved a hand dismissively, "Let's go," she said, "The first insects are just inside that tunnel," she pointed towards a log tunnel a few feet away.

"Let's get them!" Blue agreed, and led the way. Once inside, Vio twitched his ears.

"Listen, follow the buzzing noise," he instructed, crouching down. Green listened. Sure enough, a soft buzzing could be heard, that was rapidly growing louder and louder. Then the two insects were in sight. About the size of a small pumpkin and buzzing with electricity, the bugs were not a pretty sight.

"Get them!" Blue charged, leaping directly onto one, and scratching until it exploded into a large, blue, floating teardrop. The ball of light floated towards Midna, who reached out to it. The ball then evaporated into one of the fiddlehead-looking things on the light vessel. Vio took care of the second one, the same thing happening.

"Two down, fourteen to go!" Green said, "Where's the next one?"

"Down the path that way," Midna replied, pointing. The group ran in that direction, but were stopped by an ugly, shadowy monster popping out of the grass.

"That looks like… a deku baba gone through a nightmare!" Gray gasped. Indeed, it looked very much like that. Instead of its natural, hard blue mouth, the thing was black and deformed, looking twice as ugly. Gray leapt at it, teeth bared, and snapped its life-giving vine in half. The thing collapsed onto the ground.

"Let's keep moving and get this done with as fast as possible," he said, moving forward.

After more searching, and killing a third bug, they reached a dilemma.

"The map says that two more should be right in front of us! Where could they go?" Red asked. The animals were grouped by a fire pit right by a small house.

"You don't think…" Vio pondered, "Guys, I think they're inside the house," he concluded.

"They could be. How do we get in?" Green asked.

"The window," Vio angled his ears to an open window n the side of the house. Some boxes were piled outside of it, making it easily accessible.

"All right, I guess we have to," Gray conceded. Together, they clambered into the small, one-roomed house. Once inside, the first thing Green noticed was a spirit with a large afro cowering on some wooden crates in the corner of the room.

"Coro…" Gray stated, staring at the bluish spirit too. Apparently, he knew this guy.

"Wh-what's with these bugs? Those things aren't normal!" Coro whimpered, "They're so big… so weird… so creepy… C'mon, get away bugs… shoo… get out of here…"

Then they noticed the bugs under a table in the opposite corner. Apparently, Coro could see the bugs, but not them.

"Come on, let's get rid of them," Vio stalked towards the insects, Green following in pursuit. They finished off the monsters, allowing Midna to collect the tears of light left behind. Then they left the house.

After gathering nine light balls, two of which were in a long, dark tunnel, they entered a large, foggy area.

"What happened here? What's that purple fog on the ground? It wasn't there last time I came here," Gray gasped.

"Don't touch it," Midna warned grimly, "It's poisonous."

"How do we cross it?" Red asked, "Some of the bugs are on the other side."

"We have to jump it," Midna answered, "Come on, I'll show you the safe spots."

**~/_\~**

Eventually, they precariously passed through the swamp of purple fog, catching two more bugs in the process.

Everyone sighed in relief as the fog ended and real ground began. Until then, they had had to leap from rocks, to small hills, to even sticks sticking up out of the smoke.

"At least _that's_ over!" Blue sighed.

"Don't say that so soon, we still have to go back," Vio said. Everyone groaned.

After dealing with two more insects, the five reached a clearing with… three more shadow beings.

"How many of these things are there?" Green asked.

"A lot, I guess," Vio said as they walked into yet another barrier trap. The four rabbits dealt with one shadow being, while Gray the wolf cornered the remaining two and finished them off with Midna's help, another portal forming in the sky.

"That light spirit was right when it said there were lots of monsters here," Green noted.

"Hey, what's a _bridge_ doing here?" Red asked. Green looked. Indeed, there was a large bridge leaning against a cliff.

"I have no clue," Vio said. Gray shrugged as well.

"Let's just keep going," Green interrupted, "We're almost done."

Indeed, there were only two bugs left to find.

"Alright!" Red cheered, racing down the path in the right direction. Everyone else followed quickly behind, eager for their search-and-find to be over.

The group charged down a long path, past a shop, and up a log bridge to a small clearing that led to what looked like a temple in the side of an extremely thick tree. There were two poles sitting out front, one being occupied by a frightened monkey who was shouting. "Eek! Yeek! Help!"

Normally, Green would have done a double-take if he found he could understand a monkey, but, being an animal himself, and being able to understand Gray, it made a little sense. He hoped Gray wasn't able to understand the squirrels that he killed for food. That would make it feel like murder.

Returning his thoughts to the task at hand, he listened for the tell-tale buzzing of the insects. Sure enough, he found them buzzing in the grass.

"Hah!" he shouted as he leaped on one, noting that Red took down the other. Midna collected the last two tears of light and held up the vessel in satisfaction. Then, she noticed the monkey. It had looked up from where it had been hiding it's face, noticing the bugs were gone.

"Someone… someone helped me?" she sighed in relief, "Boy, lucky for me… Ever since the boss went funny in the head, there've been scary monsters everywhere… Those village kids got led through the woods for some reason… The whole forest is so weird now… What's happened?" the monkey bounced away, seeming as if she was looking for something.

"The boss?" Vio asked, "And she mentioned the village kids! They were led through here!"

"Yeah, we're one step closer to finding them!" Red cheered.

"I guess," Gray said. He had a thoughtful look on his face, "Come on, let's go take this vessel back to the light spirit."

**A/N Well, here it is! Sorry it took a while, I got a little distracted (oops!) playing Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Skyrim, Fire Emblem, and watching Blimeycow (awesome youtuber right there!) on Youtube! I also got a bit of writer's block again once I sat down to work on this. Anyway, the point is, I'm back now! So, this is my longest chapter yet!**

**Now for the guest reviewers! No need to read past this unless you are a guest that reviewed last chapter!**

**TongueTwisted- Thank you ****_so much_**** for your review! :D I can try to make longer chapters, but I usually end these in a spot I think is good for ending. I don't think I can make the chapters as long as you want, because then the story would be over in about five more chapters, and it would take a lot longer to update XD. Right now, I'm averaging around one to three chapters a week, but I can try to squeeze it down a little more. :P I always try to make my stuff as grammatically correct as possible, so you don't need to worry there. I have found about a total of two other in-Zelda crossovers; one I forgot, but the FF author Seldavia has a really awesome and hilarious one named 'Idiots form the Fifth Dimension.' Yup! You almost nailed the Four Sword Links characteristics! By the way, Blue actually does like hitting people and things (specifically Red) with his hammer when he's mad, and Green is the focused and motivated one, though I have trouble doing his character sometimes. Thanks again, and cheers!**

**Guest- Thanks! :D**


	13. Do I Have to Wear the Hat?

**Gray**

Eventually, after a few close calls coming back through the swamp, the group made it safely back to the spring. Midna held the vessel of light out over the water. It drifted out of her hands and into the faded sparkles that was the light spirit. The effect was almost instantaneous.

The whole spring glared white as the sickly yellow twilight was pushed away. The skies turned blue and cheery again, the plants lost their wilted look, and the shadows seemed a little friendlier.

Midna hopped off of Gray and floated to the small waterfall, leaning back and throwing her now-shadowy arms behind her head.

"Aww, but it was so nice here in the twilight… what's so great about a world of light anyway?" she complained.

Gray could have mentioned any number of reasons why the normal world was better than perpetual, miserable twilight, but before he could, she laughed, "Eee hee hee! See you later!" and disappeared. Gray still couldn't understand her mood changes. One moment she could be all sad and moody, and the next be the total opposite! How she did it… he didn't even know.

At that moment, a large, glowing ball floated out of the water. He knew instantly that it was another light spirit- Faron, he believed its name was.

The creature finished forming, taking the shape of a… monkey? He didn't quite know what it was, but it seemed to look most like a monkey with a very long tail that curled in an almost complete circle from under its feet to over its head.

"I am Faron," the spirit's voice reminded him of Rusl's when he was serious; deep, solemn, and somber- like he knew that someday, very soon, someone was going to die.

"I am one of the spirits of light who dwell in Hyrule. By the order of the gods and goddesses, I protect this forest," Then Faron focused on Gray, "Oh brave youth… In the land covered in twilight, where people roam as spirits, you were transformed into a blue-eyed beast… That was a sign. It was a sign that the powers of the chosen one rest within you, and they are awakening. However…" he acknowledged the other four, "I do not know why you changed. Perhaps it was the power of the sword you wield, or maybe the goddesses will. At any rate, I'm sure your friend will appreciate the help.

"Now, look upon yourselves, for your original forms are returning, and yours, Link, yours is awakening…"

Gray gasped as he felt the beast's form slide off of him. He stood up, shakily assessing his new hylian outfit. It was made something like the other's clothing, which hadn't changed from when he first met them. He wore a long green tunic-a belt holding it in place-, with a white shirt and softly clinking chain mail underneath. There were white leggings on his legs, his feet, a pair of brown boots, and on his hands were brown gloves and bracers. The sword and shield that Midna had wanted were slung across his back, another belt wrapped around his chest and shoulder. Tentatively- and a little fearfully- he felt his head and discovered with dread that he was indeed wearing a long, floppy green hat.

"_Yes!_ I'm not a rabbit anymore!" Blue cheered.

"y-you're wearing what _we_ are!" Green gasped.

"Does it have to come with the hat?" Gray asked.

"What's wrong with the hat?" Blue asked angrily, placing a hand on his own hat defensively.

"I don't really like it. It looks a little strange…" Gray admitted, taking it off and examining it.

"Keep the hat, it's important," Vio advised.

"Why?" Gray wondered.

"It just is! It goes with the outfit! You're not being a hero until you wear the hat!" Vio explained unhelpfully.

"Fine," Gray grumbled, shoving the hat back on, "Won't it fall off though?"

"Ours never do. Yours shouldn't either." Red explained as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

Gray turned to Faron, "Why the tunic?"

"The green tunic that is your garb once belonged to the ancient hero chosen by the gods. His power is yours. His is the true power that slept within you. Your name is Link. You are the hero chosen by the gods."

"Is the hat part of the costume? And why do I have the spirit of a hero sleeping within _me?_ Why not someone else? I don't even know how to fight! What does my name have to do with this? I don't understand!"

"Brave Link… You will understand soon. However, I will answer your questions to the best of my knowledge. Whenever the need arises, the gods and goddesses choose a single individual to come forth as the legendary hero, bearing the hero's spirit. This chosen hero goes forth clad in a green tunic and hat, and vanquishes the evil residing in the land. You are that hero now, brave youth…

"You four," he turned to the other Links, "You bear the hero's spirit as well. Are you from a different time?

"Yes," Vio answered, "The future, I think."

"Then perhaps it is fate that brought you here… This occasion has happened very few times before in history. Only a few when heroes from the future came to assist another. Perhaps you are the same ones. I do not know. What I do know is that you five will save this world together."

"But where do we go?" Red asked.

"A dark power rests in the temple deep within these woods. It is a forbidden power. Long, long ago, I and the other spirits of light locked it away. Because of its nature, it is a power that should never be touched by any who dwell in the light. …But this world weeps beneath a mantle of shadows, and so there is no choice… You must match the power of the kind of shadows. If you would seek this forbidden power, then proceed to the temple in the forest depths. That is where you may start. Fare thee well…" With those words said, Faron faded into the water.

"Are you okay Gray?" Green asked, looking concernedly at him. He must've had a weird look on his face.

Gray was still trying to swallow the new information, his mind going through a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions. He had the spirit of a legendary hero? And now he was supposed to save all of Hyrule with the help of four kids? He had always liked adventure, but maybe this time he had bitten off more than he could chew. Still, if the goddesses thought he was worthy, than by Farore, he was going to try.

"Yeah, I think so," he decided. Midna then decided to pop out of Green's shadow.

"Well, this is very convenient!" she crowed, "You're heading to that forest temple, aren't you? I was just about to head there myself! Eee-hee! Hey look, you want to help your friends, right? Well, the way I see it, maybe they're in that temple, waiting for you to rescue them, right? Well, good luck Mr. important hero! See you later!" she popped into Gray's shadow.

"She's right," Vio said, "The monkey did say something about the kids being led by there."

The children… Gray had almost forgotten about them. Now he was bashing himself for it. How _could_ he just forget them? Now he was definitely going to that temple, hero's spirit or not.

"Let's go," he said.

**Young Zelda**

Young Zelda was excited. Not only was she out of her boring room and away from chancellor Cole, she was in a different time! She loved adventures, but the one downfall of being a princess was that usually, the most adventurous you were going to get was watching the guards train. They would never let her try the weapons herself, but she could understand that. Although she was a princess, she definitely wasn't the most graceful one.

She was intrigued about the other Zelda in front of her. Who knew that they looked so alike? If only she knew whether this was the past or future. There wasn't really any way to tell… or was there?

"In your legends, is there anything about a great flood?" she asked.

"A great flood? I don't think so," Zelda replied, "Why?"

"I think I'm from the future then, because I come after a great flood covered the land with water, until there were only islands left. Slowly the water drained and now it's mostly land again."

"Hmm, I guess you _are_ from the future then. How about we try that harp now?"

"Sure, can I do it?" Young Zelda asked enthusiastically.

"I guess so. Pluck away, but remember which strings you touched." Zelda warned.

Young Zelda held her breath and hit a few strings on the left of the harp. There was a rushing nise, and her hair whipped on her face… then stillness. Opening her eyes, she gasped as she saw the person.

"Who _are_ you?" she asked.

"Sh-Shadow Link?" Zelda gasped.

"Shadow Link?" the soft, deep, malevolent voice of the shadowy person in front of them said, "Is that some sort of lame shadow that can do nothing but float through walls? What a cute idea. No, I am Dark Link **(1)**."

"Young Zelda?" Zelda whispered frantically.

"Yes?" she squeaked back.

"Send him back now!" Young Zelda, realizing her urgency, hurriedly hit the strings. Dark Link, realizing what she was doing, narrowed his glowing red eyes, snarled, and leapt towards her as he was being swept away. Thankfully, the harp made him disappear before he could reach her.

Young Zelda held the harp out to her friend.

"So… do you want to try next?"

**1- NO, Shadow Link is ****_not_**** the same as Dark Link, for those who may be confused. Shadow Link is pretty much only in Four Swords. The rest are Dark Link.**

**A/N And here's another chapter! Can't have Link without his hat, can we? Will Gray ever grow fond of his? Find out… uh, sometime later in the story! Cheers! **


	14. Home Safe

**Vio**

"Hold up!" Vio exclaimed, holding up his hands, "We can't go charging out into the wilderness without supplies! We need food and water! How about we make a quick stop at your village first, before we go? Besides, your friends there like Rusl will probably want to know that you're all right and where you're going. Plus, it's getting late. Why don't we just spend the night in your village and get going tomorrow?"

Gray looked like he wanted to protest, but then decided otherwise.

"I guess," he reluctantly agreed, "But what am I going to do about my sword and shield? They'll probably notice that they are the items we stole yesterday

"Well, I suppose you could tell them the truth, and explain why you did it," Green suggested.

"No!" Midna's voice disagreed vehemently, "They probably won't believe you, and if they do, the truth will probably scare them. You don't want to do that, do you? Eee-hee! Why don't you give them a similar story? Just tell them you found them out in the woods after you had been knocked unconscious and the children were taken, or whatever happened to you before I met you. It'll be a lot simpler that way."

"…Alright," Gray sounded reluctant, fiddling with his gloves, "I _really_ don't like lying to them, but you are right… Judging on how Hanch reacted when he saw me as a wolf, it would probably scare most of them," he sighed, starting to walk in the direction of Ordon.

Vio, knowing Gray needed some time alone, let him walk in the front in silence. They walked like that for about fifteen minutes, until Vio spotted Gray's treehouse in the distance. Not being small animals that Gray had to go slower than usual for, the distance was much faster to travel.

**~/_\~**

**Gray**

"We're here!" Red cheered.

"Yeah," Gray swallowed. What was he supposed to tell the villagers? He was still trying to decide if he should tell them the truth or not, despite what he had told Midna. He was also a very bad liar, so even if he didn't tell them the truth, they would probably guess something was up.

Entering the village, he was greeted with surprise by Uli; the pregnant wife of Rusl.

"Link! Thank the goddesses you're all right! We thought you had been taken along with the children and Ilia! Who are your friends?" she asked, hurrying towards them as fast as her belly would allow.

"I _was_ captured," he explained, quickly deciding to tell her most of the information, but out leaving out simple things, like becoming animals, "I was taken to Hyrule Castle and thrown in the dungeons, where I met these four, Link, Link, Link, and Link. We decided we couldn't all go by the same name, so we gave each other nicknames, those four going off of their clothing color, and me for my chain mail. So we're now called Red, Green, Blue, Vio and Gray," he pointed to each person as he named them.

"I see… Gray, but Hyrule Castle? And how did you escape? Where are the other children?"

"Uli," Gray answered solemnly, making a grim expression, "Hyrule castle has been taken over. Me and my friends escaped very carefully. I don't quite remember how, but we did. I didn't see anyone else I know, but that's why I'm here, I need supplies so I can go looking for them."

Uli looked very upset, but she nodded. Gray was happy to see her trying to be brave. Her and Rusl's son, Colin, had been one of the ones taken. Reassuring her, he said, "I _will_ find them Uli, Colin, Ilia, everyone. You'll see."

She nodded again.

"I wish you luck, Link- or Gray, as I should now call you. I would gift you the only spare sword and shield we have, but I see you already have them. Where did you find them? And your new tunic and hat?"

"Oh, this?" Gray blushed, rubbing his hat nervously and frantically trying to think up a story until Vio came to his rescue, while glaring at Red who was giggling.

"He grabbed it from the guard barracks in the castle for a disguise," Vio explained, "We found the sword and shield lying on the ground in the forest," he finished, completely straight-faced and not fidgeting nervously as Gray had been.

He couldn't help think about how much better at lying Vio was than himself.

"Alright, I'm sure Rusl won't mind you keeping them. I'm being rude making you all stand there! Come to my house and I can serve you some dinner, I need to sit down anyway. After we eat I'm sure Sera will get you some supplies for the road. Come."

Uli led them to the house she shared with Rusl. Along the way, they were greeted with shouts of relief and questions from everyone who saw Gray was safe and sound. After letting everyone who greeted them know the half-truth on what had happened, they eventually entered Uli's house.

"Sit down and I'll get you something to eat," Uli pointed to the table while she headed towards a pot of stew sitting by the fire.

"No, you sit, I can get it," Green offered.

"Oh, thank you! I say L-Gray, you've made some nice friends," she complimented them, while promptly sitting down and rubbing her belly. Her baby was due in a couple of weeks, so she had to rest often. Gray only hoped that Colin was home in time to watch his new sibling's birth. Family was important in Ordon Village. Uli and Rusl had made known that they had already picked two names for the baby as was usual. No-one had a way of knowing whether it would be a boy or a girl, so the parents always decided on one male, and one female name for their child. However, they refused to tell anyone what the chosen names were. They wanted to keep it a surprise.

Green brought the pot of stew over to the wooden table, placing a rag underneath it as he set it down.

"There, now where are the bowls and spoons kept?" Green asked.

"The bowls are on that shelf over there, and the spoons are in the crate." Uli directed.

"I'll get them!" Red volunteered.

"Me too," Blue said. The two of them gathered the necessary items just as Rusl walked in the door, spotting Gray.

"Hi Link! Though I suppose you're going by Gray now, aren't you? I heard you were in town! We were all worried about you!"

Everyone settled into a friendly chat as they ate, all squashed around the table.

"That was a delicious stew!" Red complimented Uli after he finished.

"Yeah!" Blue agreed, Vio and Green nodding as well.

"I'll do the dishes," Gray stood up, gathering everyone's utensils.

"I can help," Vio offered, standing up as well.

"Thank you for having us over," Green thanked the two adults after the chores were done.

"It was our pleasure!" Rusl laughed, "It's always nice to have a little company now and then. Now go, I think Sera wants to see you about those supplies. Plus it's getting late, you lot should head to bed soon if you're doing a lot of traveling tomorrow."

Thanks again," Vio said as they walked out the door. Gray led the way to Sera's store.

"You live in a nice village," Red said as they reached the store, "I like it here."

"Me too," Gray agreed as he opened the door.

"Hello everybody," Sera greeted them, "I have your supplies set aside right over here."

She placed a hand on the pile of items on the counter sitting next to her cat's bowl of milk.

"How much do you want for it?" Gray asked.

"Oh, only that you bring Beth and everyone home safely."

"Are you sure? I should pay-"

"No," she interrupted firmly, pressing the supplies into his arms, "Bringing the children home safely will be payment enough."

"Well then, I should at least say thank you," Gray said. Sera smiled.

"I should be the one thanking you and your friends; after all, you're the ones who are doing the saving."

Eventually, they got the items sorted out so each Link was carrying the stuff he needed for the trip. Then, they all headed into Gray's house and Red, Green, Vio, and Blue all made makeshift beds on the floor of Gray's bedroom. After they were all settled, Gray realized something.

"Hey, I know we met each other a couple days ago, and I consider you to be good friends already, but we barely know each other. Why don't you tell me a bit about yourselves? Like… why are you all identical? Are you quadruplets?"

No, of _course_ not! We're not even related!" the four of them yelled simultaneously, and then burst out laughing. **(1)**

The five of them stayed up for a while, talking until Gray made them go to sleep, saying they had a long day tomorrow.

Raising his head to gaze at his new sleeping friends when the room went silent, Gray smiled to himself, glad that he had these four for company on his journey. Then he lowered his head and closed his eyes. Before long, he too drifted into a peaceful sleep.

**1- If you look, they used this line in the manga when Erune asked them if they were quadruplets.**

**A/N There! I fixed a plot hole! Why didn't the Ordonians recognize the sword and shield in the game? Well, I guess the shield makes sense, because you can buy them in some places, but the sword? I have no idea.**

**Plus, have you ever noticed that there is ****_no bed _****in Link's house? I kinda thought that was odd…**

**Yes, I ****_am_**** going to sway from the direct storyline a bit, about where some people are at certain points and whatnot.**

**Also, sorry! I'm being a bit slow on the updates, aren't I? Well, the truth is… heheh… I've been a little…. ah, ****_addicted,_**** to Skyrim… Now I'm paying for it by being awfully behind in all of my reading, reviewing, and writing. Still, at least I'm being better than I would be if I had a new Zelda game! If I did, then you probably wouldn't be seeing me for a bit longer than this… Enough with this author note! Most of you probably aren't reading this anyway, and the rest of you probably don't want to hear my lame excuses for disappearing! Now I really want to find out just how many people are actually reading my author notes…**

**Guest- Thanks! I'm glad you like it! :D**


	15. The Adventure begins for Real

**Red**

Red woke up first. Seeing everyone was still asleep, he sat in bed, thinking about how excited he was. Today was the day they went out to rescue everyone. He loved helping people. And the best thing about it? He was going with four amazing friends to help.

Red sighed happily as he stood up and put his tunic and hat on, then he picked up his pillow and gazed decisively at everyone's sleeping form. Who to pick? His eyes fell on Gray, who was sleeping half off of his bed in a really awkward position.

Sneaking over, Red raised the pillow and repeatedly whacked Gray's head with it, saying loudly, "It's time to get up! We have a big day today!"

"Wha- Ow! Hey!" Gray shouted, covering his head and falling off of the bed. Red stopped hitting him and dissolved into a fit of giggles. By then, the other Links were awake.

"What's going on?" Green asked.

"I was sleeping!" Blue complained. Vio only stared in amusement, before picking up his own pillow ad hitting Blue with it.

"Pillow fight! He yelled.

"Agh! I'll get you for that!" Blue growled, wielding his own feathery weapon.

"Incoming!" Green shouted, throwing his pillow at Red.

Soon after, the room was covered with a mess of feathers, clothing, and five laughing Links.

"We should probably… pick this up now. We do need to eat and get going!" Green gasped between his laughter

"Yeah, all right. Come on," Vio stood up, still chortling, and fished his tunic, hat, belt, and boots out of the mess of feathers. Just when everything looked like it was calming down, Gray chuckled so hard he snorted. There was a moment of silence and twitching grins, and then everyone burst out laughing again.

Eventually, the five of them managed to gain some semblance of sanity and to get dressed and eat. Then they picked up the feathery mess left behind in Gray's room.

After that, Gray placed some more supplies on the table, of which he split up into five piles. Red picked up his stuff, and shoved it all into the small pouch on the back of his belt. Those pouches were nice, because he could carry as much stuff as he wanted in them, no matter how big the items were. Well, it had a limit, but it was kind of hard to reach. The only thing he had to be wary about was throwing small, loose stuff inside, like rupees, arrows, liquids, or bombs. Those needed to be in bags or bottles, because otherwise, they might get lost, stab, explode, or corrode the other items stored in it.

Everyone put their stuff into their pouches, and at last, they were all ready to go. Walking outside, they were stopped by a man Red didn't remember seeing before.

"Hey Link! I heard you were back and now you're leaving already! I just wanted to stop by and wish you luck."

"Thanks Fado, I appreciate it," Gray replied.

Fado reached them and placed a large hand on Gray's shoulder.

"Just do one thing for me lad, will you? Please stay safe. You, your friends, and the children. Please bring them all home safe and sound."

"I will, I promise," Gray replied, nodding.

Fado grew more solemn, pulling Gray into a hug that lasted for a few moments, before pulling away to look him in the eyes, hands still on his shoulders.

"Just know lad, that I have every faith in you. I know you'll be able to do it. Now you should go, you don't want to keep them waiting, do you?" Fado managed a grin, "May the goddesses be with you and keep you safe."

"Thanks Fado, I'll make sure everyone makes it home. I'll be back."

Gray smiled, turning to head out of the village, leaving Fado standing in the middle of the clearing, waving goodbye. Their adventure had finally begun for real.

**A/N Yes, very short, I know. BUT that was my second chapter in less than twelve hours. Plus, it seemed like a good place to end it. Hey- something is better than nothing, right?**

**Fado was in it! *applause and cheers in the background* For those of you who have read my other story, The Event's in Fado's Barn, I hope you're glad too! :D**


	16. What it Means to be a Hero

**Green**

As the group walked down the path, Red asked, "So we're going to that forest temple place again?"

"Yeah, that monkey said something about the children being taken through there, so it's our best bet," Gray confirmed.

Just then, interrupting their conversation, a deku baba popped out of the grass, snarling, it's large blue head drooling disgusting green slime. Everyone unsheathed their swords, before Gray stepped forward and finished the ugly thing off with one slice through its spine. Green stared.

"I thought you didn't know how to fight," he said. Gray frowned, gazing at his sword.

"I don't. I mean, I know the basics- Rusl taught me- but I've never actually fought anything. It seemed to just come naturally… I don't know why."

"Do you think it's the 'Hero's spirit' that light spirit was talking about?" Vio asked.

"Maybe… At any rate, it's a little unsettling. My body just acted for me, without my mind catching up. Did you guys go through any of that? Faron said that you had it too."

"Uh, no, not really," Blue admitted, "But you see, we're trained and are knights in our time. We're the youngest, and known as some of the best swordsmen in Hyrule. I guess fighting things just comes more natural for us than other people."

"…So, in other words, we're all just super killers of monsters who wear weird hats," Gray sighed and slumped his shoulders, resuming walking, "Great…"

"No, that's _not_ all we are. Don't _ever_ think that," Red protested softly but firmly, resting a hand on Gray's arm, since he couldn't reach his shoulder without it looking awkward, "We are _heroes_, we help and protect people. There is a lot more to that than just killing, Gray. I know that for a fact. Sometimes it means you have to fight, but other times, all you need to be a hero is to make someone smile. It is so much _more_ than just mindless killing."

"Yeah," Green added, smiling, "And no matter what, we'll be there to help you see that."

"Thanks guys, I needed that," Gray managed a faint smile.

"And the hat isn't weird!" Blue protested. That made them all laugh.

**~/_\~**

Soon after, the group came by a locked gate leading into the dark tunnel from before.

"Coro locked the gate!" Gray exclaimed, "Let's go get the key from him."

"Okay!" Red agreed, "Coro is that way, right?" he pointed to the right path behind them.

"Yeah, I'm warning you though, he's a little strange…"

The group traveled down the right path until they found Coro sitting beside a fire. Then Green saw something that he didn't catch when he first glimpsed him while he killed the bugs in Coro's house.

"Um, mister? You have a bird's nest on your head…" Green pointed out.

"Hunh? They like my hair. I'm a generous guy, so I let them use it," Coro replied. Then he stared at Gray, "Hey! It's the Ordonian! You seemed familiar, but then your clothes seemed kina different, so I got thrown off for a second! Listen… Things have been a little rough around here lately, so you should watch your step, okay guy?" Coro remained either oblivious or ignorant when a bird landed on the nest in his hair, and another one on his shoulder, "There are so many monsters here now… I kinda got scared and closed off the path to the temple."

"Yeah, about that… we need to get over there," Vio said.

"Mmm, you wanna get back there, huh? You guys sure do look geared up for it, so here you go!" Coro reached in his pouch, bringing out a small gray key and handing it to them, "Just leave the key in the grass by the gate. I can pick it up later," then he thought for a moment, "Oh yeah… The woods on the other side are covered in this really thick purple fog. So make sure your lantern is full!" he said cheerfully, putting a large smile on his face, "You're definitely going to need your lantern a lot in there, so bring all the oil you can!" His smile grew bigger, "And check this out! I have a special one-time offer of a bottle full of lantern oil for one hundred rupees! How 'bout it, guys? What a bargain! Say, do you four need lanterns too? I have some for sale as well!"

"Yeah, um, no thanks, we already have lanterns, and oil…" Green replied.

I think that together we have enough lantern oil for now, thanks," Gray added.

"Well, alright then. Hey- make sure you keep using that lantern so you'll come back and buy more oil, okay guys?"

"Um yeah, sure… We should really get going now, so bye!" Blue said, already turning to head away from the eccentric, bird-infested guy that was eager to sell stuff. Everyone else quickly followed, Coro shouting behind them;

"Come back soon! Okay guys?"

"Welllll, that was interesting," Vio noted as Gray unlocked the gate, dropping the key in the grass.

"Well, be glad he didn't _force_ you to buy the oil," Midna's voice huffed as they entered the dark tunnel.

**~/_\~**

Soon after, the group came out the other side. Green stopped in his tracks, dismayed at what he saw. Coro was right. The forest was silent but for the quiet hissing of the voluminous cloud of poisonous purple fog that shrouded the ground like it had in the twilight. It might have been his imagination, but it looked thicker this time.

"How are we going to cross that? We don't exactly have the same balance and jumping abilities that we did as animals…" Blue stated, holding his lantern higher to better shine through the darkness that also covered this section of woods.

"I don't know… hmm," Vio strode closer to the fog, a calculating look on his face. Green wanted to ask what he was thinking, but he knew that Vio would tell them once he had confirmed it for himself.

All of a sudden, the brown form of a monkey swept by the purple hero, snatching the lantern right out of his hands with a stick.

"HEY! What do you think you're doing?!" Blue yelled.

The monkey stopped by the edge of the fog, raising the stick with Vio's lantern into the air and whirling it in circles. To Green's amazement, the purple mass shrank away from it, leaving a spot of clear ground in its place.

"Look what it's doing! The fog doesn't like the light!" Red pointed out. The monkey finished twirling the stick and turned around on the spot, beckoning to them.

"Hey, it's the same monkey from before! That we found in the twilight. See the rose on its head? Green noted, remembering the monkey they had rescued from the twilight bugs.

"She wants us to follow her, come on!" Vio said, stepping closer to the monkey. The monkey waited until everyone had crowded around her before she hopped forward a few paces and spun the light again. They did this for a while, heading in the general direction of the other side of the woods, but it was taking a long time

"Are we almost through?" Blue asked. He sounded very bored.

"Hey, I have an idea that might make this go faster!" Red piped up, taking something out of his pouch, "Watch out monkey, I don't want you to get hurt."

Red moved to the front of the group, holding the item in front of him. There was a tell-tale _click_, and flames burst from the end of the fire rod with a loud _fwoosh!_ Red was careful in controlling it, making sure he set nothing on fire. The fog rolled out of its way faster than a river, leaving a clear path all the way to the end of the forest clearing. Unfortunately, the monkey panicked and charged through the now-clear path, Vio's lantern in tow.

"Hey, wait monkey!" Green shouted.

"I'm sorry!" Red cried, "I didn't mean to scare you, really!"

"Follow her!" Gray exclaimed, hurrying to race through the path before the fog rolled back. Green and the others followed close behind, Red looking very upset.

The monkey raced onto safe ground, dropping the lantern in her haste. Then she climbed a tree and was gone. The five stopped, panting hard as they reached the spot devoid of poisonous fog.

"I didn't mean to scare her, really," Red wiped a tear from his eye.

"We know you didn't, Red," Green patted his shoulder, "I'm sure she'll be fine."

Red gave him a watery smile.

"Okay," he agreed. Meanwhile, Vio picked up his lantern and examined it, sighing.

"It's out of oil," he explained, "I'll have to refill it. Give me a second," Green watched as he fished a bottle of lamp oil out of his pouch and filled the lantern again, "There, alright, let's go," Vio said when he was done. The group continued down the path until they reached the clearing that they had fought those shadow beings for the third time.

"Hey, that bridge is still there!" Red pointed out.

"Yeah, I wonder how it got here," Vio pondered, running a hand over it, "There's nothing growing on or through it, so I know it hasn't been here for long. I wonder how it got here, there's no drag marks on the ground to be seen, and if it was built here, then stuff should've been growing on it by now."

"What _I'm_ wondering, is who would even _want_ a bridge to be put here? It's completely useless where it is." Blue added.

"Well, we aren't going to exactly find out why by standing here, we should hurry up," Green interrupted, even though he was wondering about the bridge too. However, he knew that their current quest was more important.

"Green's right. We aren't going to get anywhere standing here. Maybe on the way we can find someone who knows what to do with the bridge," Gray agreed.

"You hylians are so-o-o _slow_. First you have to stop and examine a bridge, and then you have to stand there and _talk_ about continuing for about a minute! Just _go_ already! It's not _that_ hard," Midna crossed her arms and rolled her eyes from where she had popped out unnoticed in her shadowy form, floating next to Green. Everyone jumped at the unexpected voice.

"Sorry Midna," Gray apologized, "Let's go, guys…"

**~/_\~**

After a bit of walking, talking, arguing, and the death of two bokoblins, the group reached a small unmanned shop. Actually, the only living thing in it besides plants was a small blue bird. They must have passed this shop earlier without noticing, because Green didn't really recognize it.

"Hey, who leaves their shops unattended?" he asked.

"Hey, I'm right here, hey!" Green looked around in surprise until he noticed it was the _bird_ that was talking.

"Oh… sorry, you own the shop?" Green was unused to talking to animals. In his time, _none_ could really talk.

"Sure do! Welcome! Hey, buy something! Anything!"

"Thanks, but we don't need anything right now," Blue told the enthusiastic bird, examining the only two wares the bird had for sale. There sat two large cauldrons, one full of something that Green assumed was red potion- a drink that could heal almost any injury in a couple of minutes, and… Lantern oil.

Green already had two bottles of red potion, one with a fairy, and one with oil.

"Thanks for the offer, but we should get going," he agreed, turning to leave the shop.

"Hey! Seeya later! Hey!" the bird called after them as they left.

"Is every shopkeeper so enthusiastic in your time?" Blue asked Gray as they walked.

"Um, I don't know. I haven't really gone anywhere much beyond Ordon Village, so I've only met three," Gray explained, "Coro and that bird count as two, so if you're talking about the Faron Province, then I'd say yes, for the most part."

"That's… nice…" Blue said lamely. Gray tried to hide his smile, but failed drastically.

"What's that?" Vio pointed to a golden silhouette sitting right before the long, winding wooden bridge to the Forest Temple where they had rescued the monkey.

"I don't know… it looks like a wolf," Green said, peering at the thing.

"Wolves don't glow…" Gray mentioned.

"There's a first for everything, right?" Red asked cheerfully, "Maybe it's friendly!"

"Or maybe it wants to eat us," Blue added, scowling.

"We won't know until we get there," Vio pointed out.

"Let's go!" Red agreed enthusiastically.

Gray and Red ended up taking the lead, approaching the glowing thing that sat in the path. As they got closer, Green saw that it was indeed a wolf with radiant gold and white fur. One eye was scarred shut, and the other, the right one, was completely red, no pupil or white of eye. The whole beast emanated a serene sort of aura, yet it felt kind of sad, too. It sat straight and tall, unmoving but for its chest rising and falling in steady breathing, and its tail waving patiently back and forth, like it was waiting for something… or someone.

Gray approached it first. When he was about three feet away, the beast stood up and quickly dropped into a battle stance, growling low in its throat. Gray readied his weapons just as the others leaped forward, as well as the wolf. The wolf reached him first, but instead of clawing Gray as Green had expected, the beast fell partway _through_ him and disappeared, enveloping everyone in a blinding cloud of white.

**A/N Wow! Another chapter in the 2k! I was aiming to make this one all the way to entering the first dungeon, ****_and_**** add a Zelda chapter, but I decided not to because I have no clue how much longer this would get before then, and I didn't want to overwhelm you guys by a suddenly super-duper long chapter (for my writing, anyway). I dunno, should I try to make my chapters this length or longer? You guys tell me! I've put up a poll, so you guys, go vote on that, please! ^_^ (by the way, my last poll ended for the favored POV of… a tie between Zelda and Red! Yaaaay!)**

**Cheers!**


	17. A Hero of Old

**Blue**

When the bright light faded away, Blue realized he was lying spread-eagled and face down on the ground, sword and shield in his hands. He quickly stood up, hoping that nobody saw that. Glancing around, he discovered that the others had fallen over too. That made him feel a bit better.

"Everyone all right?" Green asked.

"Yes," Vio replied.

"All good here!" Red piped up.

"Yeah," Gray and Blue agreed.

"Where are we?" Vio asked, gazing around him. Blue looked too, and discovered they were standing in a white, misty place. Everything looked like clouds, even the ground.

The sound of a wolf howling made them spin around just in time to see the golden beast from before change into a sinister-looking skeleton wearing very dilapidated armor. However, its eyes stayed the same as the wolf's- one glowing red and the other dim and dark. In its left hand, it held a black-hilted sword, and in the other was gripped a round shield with old vines growing on it. Blue vaguely wondered how the shade- he assumed it was a shade, it just had that sort of aura- had lost its eye. The thing stared at them, breathing heavily as if it was struggling for air. Why spirits and shades breathed when they were dead, Blue had no idea. Maybe it was just habit.

It studied Gray closely, like he was evaluating how good of a fighter he was. Then his eyes moved on to Blue and the other three, and stiffened in surprise. Blue was sure that the singular eye would have widened if it had an eyelid.

"You four again? How…" The shade faded off, quickly hiding its shock as best it could.

"Us four again? Have we met?" Vio asked suspiciously. Blue wanted to know the same thing.

"Ah, forgive me, it is nothing. You just look like some people I used to know long ago when I was still alive…" the shade recovered quickly, though his eye still lingered on the four, "That is not what I brought you here for."

Vio looked unconvinced, but he didn't say anything.

"What _did_ you bring us here for?" Green asked.

"You are here so I can show you the ways of the sword. Only here can I be in this form. In the world of the living, I am forced to become a beast, so it is only here, an in-between world where I live, that I can teach you. Come, show me what you can do." Without giving anyone a chance to react, the shade split himself into five, each one targeting one Link. Each shade moved in perfect synchronization, swinging their swords and hitting each Link with the flat of their blades. Surprised, Blue was flung backwards, landing on his back several feet away. Judging from the yelps, the others had received the same treatment.

"That was unfair!" Blue cried indignantly as he picked himself up. Gray's shade spoke.

"Life is not fair. Your enemies aren't going to wait till you are ready before they attack," it reprimanded him, then turned to huff in distaste at Gray, "A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage. Always remember that. Hah, you may be destined to become a hero of legend… but your current power would disgrace the proud green of the hero's tunic you wear," the skeletal knight scoffed. Blue realized that it was trying to get Gray angry, and by the look on his friend's face, he was succeeding magnificently. Actually, he was making Blue mad too. He hated his friends being treated like that.

Gray must've still had some leftover wolfish instincts in him, because he tilted his head, narrowed his eyes, and growled lightly. Unaffected, the deceased knight continued.

"You must use your courage to seek power… and find it if you must. Only then will you become the hero worthy of saving this land. If you do find true courage, and you wish to help your friends to save Hyrule from the horrors it now faces… Then you will be worthy to receive the secrets I hold!"

Without hesitation, Gray responded, still a little mad, "I do!"

The shade nodded, "Then I will teach you. And what of you four? Do you also wish to learn my secrets?"

All four of them nodded, Blue scowling as he did so. He didn't like this guy very much, but new sword tricks were worth it.

"Well then, we shall begin," the five shades dropped into battle stances, Gray's still talking, explaining the move they were about to learn.

"Enemies that are filled with energy will quickly recover and attack again even when stunned by a powerful strike. The ending blow is a secret technique you can use on stunned enemies to end their breath before they spring back into action. When an enemy lies on the ground, stunned, focus on where you want to strike. Make sure you are well-balanced and slightly crouching. This is important when you leap," The shade started to demonstrate as he spoke, "You don't want to drop your sword in the middle of the action, so make sure you have a good grip on it. When you leap, you need to move some of your weight into your hands, even though you'll land feet first. This will give you a better strike. That way you can be certain to kill your foes."

After a while, when they had been practicing for about twenty minutes, the Links sat down for a break.

"Sir?" Red asked, "Who taught you these secret moves?"

The knight's eye glinted cheerily, as if it was funny he'd asked.

"Oh, I learned from four very good teachers," he replied, "They were a little bit older than yourself I believe."

"A bit older than us?" Vio asked suspiciously.

"Yes. I was around the same age too, at the time…" his voice faded as if lost in memory, "I remember my friends would tease me at first because I wasn't very good at them at first," he finished, "Now let's get back to practicing."

It took a bit for everyone to get the move down, but eventually they all could do it nearly flawlessly.

"Enough," the shade declared after he molded himself back into one being, "the first skill, the ending blow, has been passed on!"

"Thank you," Red said.

"You are welcome. It is my duty to show you these moves. There are six more for you to learn. Remember, these skills are only for those with the blood of the hero."

He looked at the four youngest Links, and Blue saw something in his eye. Was that sadness? Regret? Blue didn't know, but the shade nodded at them, before turning to Gray specifically.

"You have a long journey ahead of you. Grow powerful. Test your courage, but most of all, do not forget that you are not in this fight alone. I pity you. A hero's life is never easy. You will face many hardships before your time is done. Without friends and support, you will almost certainly fail. Remember that."

"What about the other skills?" Blue asked.

"To find me again, search for the statues that howl with the sound of the wind. Seek the sound that calls to the spirit of the beast to call me again. I will come to you. Now I will send you back, you have been here long enough…" He took on a more somber mood than before, "A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage. Remember those words… Farewell!"

With those last words, Blue's vision went white and he found himself standing on the path to the Forest Temple, along with the rest of the group.

Midna popped out of his shadow, making Blue jump in surprise.

"Well that was interesting," she said, "Now dead spirits are teaching you? Eee-hee! I wonder what next… Anyway! Shouldn't we get going now? You're all standing there gawking! Do you _want_ to eat all the bugs in the woods?"

Blue snapped his mouth shut, blushing in embarrassment and glaring daggers at the imp.

Midna disappeared into Green's shadow before Blue could do anything.

"Come on, let's go," Gray sighed, striding over the long bridge. The others followed, Blue munching on some cheese from his pouch. That was another nice thing about them; as long as the food was wrapped, it stayed fresh and good, lasting twice as long as it would normally. It was around lunchtime, but since they had mostly brought on-the-run foods like soup, dried meat, and bread, they could eat while walking instead of stopping and making a picnic.

Eventually, after beating up two more bokoblins along the way, the colorful group reached the entrance, gazing into the spiderwebbed tunnel. They took out their lanterns.

"Ready?" Green asked.

"Yeah, let's go," Vio answered for everyone.

Together, they entered the dark temple.

**~/_\~**

**Zelda**

"Uh, how about you have one more go before me," Zelda suggested.

"Alright, I guess. Here goes!" Young Zelda plucked the harp, waiting for the windy noise to go away before she examined what the outcome was.

It was… "AIEEEEE!" Young Zelda shrieked, "It's a rat! How horrible! Get it away from me_eee!_" She dropped the harp and backed swiftly away from the brown-gray lump of chattering fur, trembling.

Zelda stared at her. She had never seen her freak out this much.

"It's only a rodent," she pointed out, "We can just send it back," She reached down to pick up the harp, when the rat leaped onto her arm, yellowed teeth flashing as it prepared to bite.

"AAAH!" Zelda screamed, trying to fling the rat away. Its teeth were firmly gripped on her glove, "Get it off! Get it off!" she panicked, shaking her arm faster. The smelly rodent flew off her arm and landed by the harp. It scurried under, hiding in shock from the screaming girls who were crowding to the furthest corner of the chamber, away from the instrument.

After a while, they calmed down a bit. The rat had not moved from its hiding spot. The only sounds heard in the quiet room were the panicked pants of two frightened princesses.

**A/N Woo! Another chapter nearly in the 2k! By the way, that poll will be up until I say I've taken it down.**

**For once, the Zeldas have a good cliffy! Yaaaay! Should I put up the other half the next chapter, or should I just keep you waiting in suspense? Hmmmmm...**

** I know I've always had a low amount of reviews, the average being one or two per chapter, but ****_none?_**** I have nine favorites, fourteen alerts, three poll voters, and thirty-seven people (when I wrote this) who viewed the last chapter and ****_nobody_**** reviewed. :'( I hate asking for them, so I won't, but it ****_is_**** nice to hear from you guys…**

**Vulaan Kulaas does not count for this, because she PMed me (along with a few other stuff). (Thanks a bunch! :D) and we're now working on a collaboration story which will be put on my profile once we figure everything out. That's also why it took me a little longer to finish this chapter…**


	18. Temples, Monkeys, and Chicken-laides

**Vio**

Vio's mind was still full of the mysterious shade as he entered. What did he mean by 'you four again?' Though the warrior had passed it off as a mistake, Vio still suspected that he really knew them from somewhere. The way he had become flustered and tried to change the subject that fast… he was obviously lying, and not that great at it. The question was, where, how, or when did they meet him?

Bringing himself back to the "present," Vio examined the dim room around them. It was very gloomy, for a temple. The first room was a long straight hallway lit by torches whose light seemed to be swallowed by the edges of the room. The whole place had a musty feel to it, like no-one had come inside for several years.

Green put away his lantern, the others following his example. With the torches, there wasn't much need for them.

In front of them, stairs led to a rounded doorway. As they approached it, two deku babas popped out of some tall grass on either side of them. Whipping out his sword, Vio dispatched one while Green handled the other.

"Isn't a temple _not_ supposed to be full of monsters?" Gray asked.

"Yeah," Blue answered grimly, "But everywhere else isn't supposed to have them either."

"Good point."

"This temple feels sad," Red said quietly, "Something bad is happening here."

"Yeah, I can _see_ that, Red," Blue pointed out, "There's a huge evil-looking spider hanging from the ceiling in front of us. It looks pretty mad."

Vio looked up. Sure enough, there was a large spider dangling from the roof hanging by a thin web, half-hidden by shadows.

"That's no problem!" Green declared, whipping out his boomerang. He threw it at the monster, the stick whipping through the air and colliding with the thing's abdomen. The boomerang ricocheted off of it harmlessly, flying back to Green's hand. The spider started inching down from the ceiling, legs swinging ominously.

"Obviously, that didn't help. If it wasn't mad before, it is now…" Gray noted.

Green frowned.

"My weapon should have stunned it."

"_It_ is called a skulltulla," Midna informed them in a bored voice, "You might be interested to know that its weak spot is the underside and face… the rest is covered in armor."

"Since when did you know so much about monsters?" Blue questioned harshly at Green's shadow, where Midna had yet to reveal herself. She popped out and leaned on Green's shoulder- which Green himself didn't look too happy about.

"Calm down Sunshine, I'm only trying to help," Midna replied disdainfully, flicking a finger in the air.

_"Sunshine?!"_

Ignoring what was turning into a full blown argument, Vio studied the enemy which he could now see properly. Midna was right. All but the face, legs, and underside was covered in a tough shell that wasn't even dented from Green's boomerang- and that thing was known to give rocks a good beating. He figured their best bet was to flip it onto its back and then stab it, or just generally hack the head to pieces. They _could_ cut all the legs off, but that would be mean. Plus, he had a feeling that they were tougher than they looked.

"Guys! Pay attention when we're fighting!" Vio scolded Blue and Midna before their argument got out of hand. Both of them huffed but complied, Blue seeming especially reluctant, while Midna was wearing her usual smirk.

"Let's get it!" Blue raced forward, sword and shield in hand. Thankfully, even with their little spat, Blue had still seemingly taken Midna's advice into his thick head. He went for the traditional hack-and-smash routine on the skulltula's head. Vio almost felt sorry for the large spider when Blue ripped out his hammer and smashed its face flat.

"That'll teach it…" Vio heard Blue mutter as he passed him, heading towards the shadow still leaning on Green.

"_Never_ call me Sunshine…" the blue-clad hero growled menacingly at the imp, turning and heading for the doorway. Vio and the others followed. He, Red, and Green had learned the hard way to stay out of the temperamental hero's way when he was mad, unless they wished to be at the mercy of a hammer and a pair of strong arms. Gray wisely followed their example and let him have his space.

Going through the door, Vio found the next room to be just as un-temple like as the last one. It had the same musty and abandoned feel, but this time there was a raised wooden pedestal in the center which split off into three paths; one forward, one to the left, and one to the right. The podium was lit by four torches in each corner, thin wooden bridges without rails spanning the length to the shadowed doorways on their left and right. For the door in front of them, was a set of plain wooden stairs.

Vio was glad that the torch stands seemed to be built into the woodwork. If someone were to knock one over, it would probably set the whole place on fire.

"I don't see any enemies in here," Green spoke up.

"Hey, this door's locked!" Gray exclaimed, his hand on the door that was straight ahead. Vio looked. Sure enough, the door had chains hanging from it. They were secured in the center with a large lock, preventing anyone from opening it.

"That won't be a problem!" Blue hefted his hammer, swinging it as hard as he could onto the lock. The room shook with the force of the blow, and the door was lightly dented, but the chains stubbornly hung in place, looking like they hadn't just been smashed with a wooden mallet that was harder than rock.

"It… didn't break!" Blue gasped.

"We'll have to search for the key," Vio had to raise his voice in the middle of his sentence as Blue struck the lock again. The temperamental hero grumbled a little louder than under his breath when his efforts proved to be completely unfruitful.

"Which door should we try first?" Red held out his hands, pointing one at the left door, and one at the right.

"Why don't we split up?" Green suggested, turning to Gray, "If that's alright with you, anyway."

"I don't really like splitting up, but if it makes this go faster, then I guess. Blue, Vio, and I'll go this way, Green, you take Red and go through the other door. Meet back here when you find something," Gray decided, leading him and a still-grumbling Blue through the left door.

The next room turned out to be a long empty hallway, with a crack in the ceiling that let in light from outside. A stone tile path lead across the room and kept back overgrowing weeds. However, some of the tiles were dilapidated to varying degrees. Vio blinked as he saw a tile unexpectedly move. Was he imagining it? No, it shifted again.

"Don't step on that tile," he warned the others, "It just moved."

"What? Are you sure?" Gray asked.

"Yeah."

"Let's go around it, then."

"I'll just smash it and get it over with!" Blue growled. Why not being able to smash the locked door had put him in such a bad mood, Vio didn't know. Maybe he was still frustrated with Midna. At least she wasn't here. At any rate, Vio let him have his space while Gray protested.

"No, don't!" Gray followed the blue hero as he raised his hammer and slammed it down on the tile. It cracked and shattered, revealing a long, gigantic centipede-looking thing.

The large bug launched out of its hole sharply, flinging clay fragments, stone bits, and Blue into the air. Vio, sword out, raced to help the two stunned heroes out. The centipede thing had almost no armor, so it was easy to hack into pieces now it was exposed. Blue and Gray helped. Still, it was large and fast, managing to cut Vio's arm before it met its demise.

They stood, panting and gazing at the dead creature.

"…Let's not touch any more moving tiles," Gray suggested.

Vio and Blue agreed.

With the creature gone, the room was quiet and peaceful. The crack in the roof lit up the room nicely, and made it look a little more cheerful.

However, Vio had a sinking feeling that when they got to the next room, the calmness would soon change.

**~/_\~**

**Green**

Green couldn't help but feel relieved when Gray and Vio took Blue. He had been looking more grumpy and infuriated every minute.

"Hey Midna?" he asked.

"What?"

"Maybe you should lay off of Blue for a while. He looked pretty frustrated…"

"He needs it," the imp sniffed.

"Come on, let's go!" Red interrupted, leading them through the door.

Following, Green saw that they were now in a long hallway lit only with two torches, which didn't provide a whole lot of light so Green and Red took out their lanterns. A short bridge led over a small stream running across the middle of the floor. There were a few pots sitting in one corner across the stream, and a hole in another on the side he and Red were standing. Suddenly, something crawled out of the hole and stood. It resembled a ball supported on four tall, spindly legs.

"What's that?" Green asked. It started crawling towards them.

"It's a bombling. You might want to watch out... it explodes," Midna informed them, "It will leave you alone if you stay away from its hole."

"That would be a good idea," Green said, backing away. Midna's words proved to be true, because as soon as they reached the bridge, the explodable creature thankfully backed off to the hole it had come from.

"Hey, that pot wobbled," Red pointed out, pointing a finger at an obscure pot among the several in the corner of the room. Green looked. Sure enough, he saw the pot wiggle back and forth, a muffled sound echoing from inside.

"Something must be stuck inside," Green stated, picking up the clay jar.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed when it gave a strong wobble and tumbled out of his hands, shattering on the floor. He jumped when a creature leapt out of the remains and onto the floor, flapping its tiny, dull yellow wings. It looked like a chicken with an egg-shaped human head without hair or ears and completely pink eyes. It looked a little creepy.

"Phew! Gracious… once I squeezed in there, I couldn't get out! You were a big help… thanks!" the creature exclaimed, "I've been looking for something in here, you see. Gracious yes! You were a big help." Well, that explained being stuck in the pot at least.

"You two must need something in here too. Shall we try working together for a while, fellow adventurers? You may not think I look like much, but I can be quite helpful! I can even warp you out if you want to leave! So you wouldn't need to think of me as a burden!" it added.

"Uh… sure," Green scratched his head. It sounded female, so he assumed it was a girl.

"What's your name? I'm Red and he's Green," Red added.

"Gracious, I forgot to introduce myself! My name is Ooccoo, and this is my son, Ooccoo Junior!" from behind the chicken-lady a head the size of Ooccoo's with wings on the sides where ears should be popped out cheerfully. If Ooccoo was disturbing, Junior was even more so. However, they seemed friendly enough.

"Hi!" Junior greeted.

"Hi," Green and Red replied.

"Now that we're properly acquainted, let's get started!" Ooccoo said, leaping unexpectedly into Red's pouch, Junior following close behind.

"…Okay, let's go then," Green brought up after a few seconds of silence. The group went through the round door, finding themselves in a better lit room, so the two hylians put their lanterns away. The room wasn't very big. A chest sat in-between two lit torches, shadows glancing off the walls of the circular room. Green opened it, revealing the contents. It was a small gray key.

"Do you think that'll fit in the lock?" Green asked.

"Yeah! We found it! That was easy," Red said.

"Let's go back."

**~/_\~**

**Blue**

Blue didn't think his pride could be wounded further than it had already been today. First he was knocked backwards far too easily by the mysterious swordsman shade, and then irritable, he had snapped at Midna, whom he still didn't trust. After she had called him names and the others had looked on amusedly, he had failed to destroy a crummy old _lock_ stuck on a door, and then put his group's lives in danger by thinking he could smash an enemy tile to pieces without the giant stubborn worm underneath fighting back. If there was anything Blue hated more than embarrassing himself, it was putting himself and everyone around him in needless danger because of stupid actions. Utterly ashamed that he had done just that, he fell quietly to the back of the group. He felt like one giant failure.

He had a feeling something not very good was behind the door in front of them. Hopefully, he wouldn't mess it up this time.

Gray opened the door, dirt and dust falling from the doorframe as it rolled aside.

The room was noisy with the sound of screeching monkeys. Blue saw around nine of them trapped in a large cage on the opposite end of the room. Just in front of them, the girl monkey from before- he could tell from the rose on her head- cowered from the sight of a large white ape wielding a… boomerang? He might've stopped to think it was a little strange, but the ape had the weapon poised threateningly, ready to throw.

The girl monkey saw them and raced up to Gray, pulling on the hem of his tunic and pointing shakily as she cowered behind his legs. Blue unsheathed his sword and took out his shield, Vio and Gray doing the same.

"Hey, are those your friends locked up?" Vio asked the monkey. She screeched and pointed to the white monkey again… at his hand. Clutched in its meaty fingers was a bronze key that was the same color as the lock holding the monkeys' door shut.

"Hey, do you think that key would work on the door in the main room too?" Gray whispered to him and Vio, all the while keeping his eyes on the ape, who was now dancing around the room in anger. Blue couldn't help but think it was a weird way to show it.

"No, it's too big," Vio said.

"When do you think that ape's going to cut out his temper tantrum?" Blue asked. The animal in question was now leaping about the ceiling, screeching madly. Then, unexpectedly, Blue and Gray had to duck as its boomerang flew over their heads. Unfortunately, unlike most boomerangs, this one had a small whirlwind swirling around it. The wind was strong enough that Blue nearly fell over and would have lost his hat if he hadn't grabbed it out of reflex. Gray was a little more unfortunate. His hat was gone with the wind, soaring with the boomerang back into the ape's fingers. It gave a toothy smile and several hoots of laughter, putting the hat on its head and spinning around to slap its rear end at them.

"Hey!" Gray shouted, rubbing the back of his head. Blue though he looked weird without his hat, but then again, he realized, he hadn't really seen Gray without it on for more than a minute.

"Give my hat back!" Gray yelled, charging at the ape, which was now on the ground.

"Don't kill him!" Vio warned, "I don't think she wants him harmed!" his purple counterpart was struggling to hold back the young female monkey, who was panicking in his arms.

The snowy white ape screeched and jumped up and down, raising his arm threateningly, boomerang poised and ready to throw. Gray raised his shield and Blue raced to help, leaving Vio to keep the little monkey from throwing herself in the line of danger.

"Got it!" Gray answered Vio's warning, turning his sword so that it would strike with the flat. The ape threw its weapon again, the boomerang making a beeline straight towards Gray's head. The hylian's hat must have not been a good fit for monkeys, because the instant the stick was thrown, the floppy cap tumbled off the ape's head. Distracted, it bent down to pick it up. That was Blue's opening. Swiftly, he charged in, racing to whap the flat of his sword on the animal's rear end with a satisfying _slap!_ It was a direct hit.

The ape's reaction was quite comical. It leaped in the air, screeching in surprise just in time to get clobbered with its own weapon. Monkey and stick fell to the earth in a tangle as Gray stepped in to rap it soundly on the head, effectively knocking it unconscious.

Vio let his monkey go, both of them racing over to see the damage. The monkey hopped anxiously up and down, not knowing quite what to do.

"It's okay, he's just knocked out," Vio consoled her as he picked up Gray's hat and handed it to him. Gray shoved it protectively onto his head.

"I thought you didn't like that thing," Blue noted.

"It's… grown on me," Gray admitted, blushing slightly. Vio beamed.

"Red's going to be happy about that," he said.

"Yeah," Blue agreed, grinning too.

Just then, the downed ape groaned, rubbing its head with the hand holding the key. Then it realized what it was holding, and where it was. Panicking, it screeched and jumped up, racing to the locked door. Hurriedly, it unlocked it, throwing the door open and hugging every single monkey one by one. Then it hugged the girl monkey that hadn't been locked up, and then did the same to Vio, gray, and Blue. By the goddesses, it gave strong hugs. Turning to the other monkeys, it beckoned its arms and the three hylians were mobbed by eleven thankful monkeys, who were expressing their gratefulness in the only way they could; more hugging.

**~/_\~**

**Gray**

Eventually, the three made it back to the main room, without the monkeys, who had left via a hole in the ceiling. Gray had also acquired a new boomerang, which the white ape had left behind. He was actually quite good at throwing it.

Green, Red, and Midna were waiting for them in front of the locked door.

"What did you guys find?" Green asked.

"We found a boomerang that drags a mini windstorm along with it, and rescued a bunch of monkeys," Blue explained, "How about you?"

"We got the key and two new traveling partners," Green replied, "Say hi to Ooccoo and Ooccoo Junior."

Red pulled out two… somethings from his pouch. One looked like an old yellowed hen with an egg-shaped human head. The other, was merely a flying head with wings on the sides. Where had they come from? He had never seen anything like them before.

"Hi, nice to meet you," Gray greeted. Manners had been well-drilled into him by Rusl's wife, Uli. Rusl, Uli, and their son Colin had always been to him like the family he had never had.

"Hello," Blue and Vio said.

"Where are you two from? If you don't mind my asking, I've just never seen any of your kind around here before," Vio asked.

"Oh gracious! I don't mind! We come from the sky. As far as I know, we're the only two occa not in our city!" Ooccoo replied cheerfully.

"Oh."

"There's a city in the sky?" Red asked.

"Gracious yes! We wouldn't live there if there wasn't one, would we? Now let's go, we don't want to be here all day!" Ooccoo leaped back into Red's pouch along with Junior.

"…Okay then, let's see if that key fits," Blue broke the silence.

Green put the key in the lock and twisted. With a click and a snap, the lock and chains tumbled to the floor.

"Oops," Green said sheepishly.

"What?" Vio asked.

"I broke the key in half," Green dangled one half of a broken key in his fingers, pointing to the head buried in the lock.

"Huh, just toss it on the ground," Blue shrugged, moving to open the freed door. Green blinked and followed, tossing his broken key half on the floor. Gray and the rest followed them through the doorway.

Gray took one glance around the next room before commenting, "Uh-oh."

They were standing on a wide and thick ledge, the next door on the opposite end of the room, on another thick ledge. The only problem was, separating them from it, was a huge gap of nothingness. Vio tossed a rock down the chasm and everyone listened. About ten seconds passed before they heard a quiet _clink_ echo up to them. It was one deep hole.

"How are we going to cross this?" Gray asked. The others exchanged grinning glances that made Gray uneasy.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Green asked the others. They all nodded. Yep, that definitely didn't make Gray feel the best.

"Ready?" Vio asked, "One, two… _three_!"

"Whoaaah!" Gray yelled as the four lifted him high in the air and launched him across the gap. He landed safely on the other side.

The others burst out laughing, pulling on red boots and running right _across the air_, much faster than should be possible, to his side.

"What… How…?" Gray gasped, still in shock from his own not-very-graceful journey across the gap.

"You should see your face!" Blue chortled. Red fell over laughing.

"What did you do? What are those?" Gray asked, blushing from embarrassment.

"Pegasus boots," Vio answered, managing to stop laughing, but he was unable to keep a straight face. He took his red boots off, showing them him.

"Here, see? They let the wearer run super fast. Ours were blessed by a great fairy so we can run right across air," he explained.

"…Oh."

"Hey, this door looks different," Green noted, running a hand across it, "It's also a lot bigger too."

"Well, let's go see what's on the other side," Blue said impatiently, stepping up to shove it open. It rolled aside noisily, sounding like a miniature earthquake. The group stepped into the looming dark doorway.

**~/_\~**

**Zelda**

"Is it… dead?" Young Zelda asked hopefully.

"I don't think so… How do we get rid of it?" Zelda whispered back.

"I don't know! Do something!"

"Like what?"

"Throw a rock at it! Threaten it! Do the Limbo! Salsa dance! Just _do_ something!

"I don't want to hit the harp!" She complained. What could she do? Aha! There was a stick! Grabbing it, together, the two girls cautiously approached the harp. Zelda gripped her stick, Young Zelda hiding behind her, gripping her arm so tight that it was beginning to grow numb.

"Lighten your grip a little, please?" she whispered.

"Sorry," The death grip on her arm loosened, but not by much. Warily, she prodded the harp and immediately leaped back. Nothing happened. Holding her breath, Young Zelda doing the same, she poked the harp again. The duo leapt back and screamed as the rat leaped out and scampered away into darkness on the other side of the room.

"Where did it go?" Young Zelda squeaked.

"I don't know! Play the harp and send it back, quick!" Zelda panicked, almost throwing the instrument into the other princess' arms.

"I don't remember which strings they were!"

"They were somewhere on the left, I think!"

"_Where_ on the left?"

Just then, the two girls heard footsteps coming down the stairs, and Zelda saw Sir Valensuela enter the room, holding a torch aloft.

**~/_\~**

**Valensuela**

"Princess? Link?" the blue-haired knight asked, "You were taking so long, I was just check-" he stopped mid-sentence as he was mobbed by two nearly identical and both equally hysterical girls.

"Valensuela! Thank the goddesses! There's a rat! …Rat! _Please!_ Get rid of it!" one Zelda sobbed into his armor, pointing shakily into a corner of the room. The other Zelda just clung to his arm shakily, a terrified look in her eyes, and clutching a harp.

"Whoa- hey, slow down. What about a rat? Why are there two of you? And where's Link?"

"There's… _Rat!_" was all Zelda would say.

"Okay, I'm going to get rid of the rat, and once I do, will you talk with some sense?" the very confused knight asked.

Both Zelda's nodded earnestly. Valensuela still had no idea what was going on, but he searched the room anyway, waving his torch in every corner until he found the offending rodent. It was cowering in a corner, looking just as frightened as the two almost identical girls standing by the stairs. Feeling sorry for the rat, but knowing that they bred fast and could invade the castle with overpopulation and ruin everyone's shoes, he disposed of it as quickly and painlessly as possible.

"It's gone," he told the two pink-clad girls as he strode back over to them, "Now are you good enough to give me some sensible answers? Why is there two of you? And where in Hyrule is Link?"

**A/N Sorry I took so long! Writer's block is nasty… Well, it's a super long chapter to make up for it… :D**

**Yes, hahaaaa, Zelda's group is growing! Valensuela has now joined the party! For those who thought the name was familiar but couldn't place it, Valensuela is the knight that gives Green the first (blue) gem in the manga. If you are wondering about the times, the four Links have been back in time for about three days (some of that being unconscious or locked in the twilight… it takes some time to travel to Hyrule Castle from Ordon!), and Zelda has only been in the basement for about one or two hours. Yes, they're on two different time streams. I hope it doesn't get too timey-wimey for you guys! If it does get confusing for you, just ask and I can start putting where the time streams are in the author note every chapter.**

**If you haven't guessed already, the Four Sword Links have some qualities and weapons that they have in the game (Adventures, anyway) but you never see in the manga. However, if you're wondering, none of their weapons are officially 'level two' except for the pegasus boots. They're kind of a mix of the game and manga I guess. Manga storyline for the most part, but game weapons, though Blue is still the only one with the hammer, Red with the fire and ice rods, Vio with the bow, and Green with the boomerang.**

**Guest reviewers! Now's your cue!**

**GirlversionofRed- Thanks! Don't worry! I'm not planning on ever deleting or discontinuing this story‼ Even if I don't get any reviews/follows/favorites. Unless something drastic happens where I can't ever work on it (like I die), I will be sure to see it through to the end!**

**Ashlee S- (ch 16) Aww shucks :( Do you know when or if you can get it back/get a new one? (17) I put up the second part just for you! I've had it written for a while now :P The collab probably won't be posted for a while, we're still working it out and I want to get most of it written before we start posting it, because it's a bit more complex storyline and I also have to dual-work on that and this and everything else I'm writing (just because I'm not posting something doesn't mean I'm not working on it). Cheers! I have another one-shot up too, if ya want to look at it. This time it's on Dark Link. Oh, also, I finally got a picture of me and my cat as my DeviantART profile pic. XD Took me forever to get around to doing it though…**


	19. Midna is a Great Help

**Red**

The room they stepped into made Red feel very nervous. It had that sort of evil feel to it, like something really bad had happened there. They were standing on a thick crescent of land. Deep, poisonous-looking, mucky water that's color matched Vio's tunic filled the rest of the floor except for one floating log. A large bundle of tree branches, leaves, and vines formed a canopy high over their heads, letting just enough sunlight through so they could see clearly. However, Red's attention was mostly on the water, which was now bubbling.

"I don't like this…" Blue's whisper trailed off into a gasp as a giant wave splashed and three, scarily large heads rose violently out of the violet water, spitting poisonous muck and water everywhere. Two of the giant heads looked like overgrown Deku Babas, but these ones had nasty teeth, and their skin looked like tree bark. The middle head looked like a lizard, but when it roared, the bottom half of its mouth split in two, making it look like an overgrown, gross plant with teeth and a long tongue with an… eyeball on it? Red didn't know what the creature was, but it scared him.

"Get out of the way!" Red was tackled to the side by Gray, just as one of the deku baba heads slammed down where he had been standing. Blue tried slicing through its head but his sword only glanced off, chipping the armor slightly.

Recovering quickly, Red shot a quick, "Thanks!" Gray's way before they dove to either side to avoid a splash of deep purple vomit the middle head shot at them. The substance hissed where it landed and all the grass touching it withered and died.

"Yaah!" Red shouted as he swung his sword at a head coming at him. He only managed to slice the very tip of a tooth off, but that was something, right?

The head in the middle roared again, this time so loud Red had to clamp his hands over his ears. Apparently, its distraction worked, because a head managed to slam down so close to Green that he flew into the air from the force, going until he slammed into the wall. Red didn't have time to find out the damage, having to dodge another spray of the acid-like water. When he glanced over again, Blue was kneeling next to Green, who was sitting up and holding his head. At least he was all right.

"Midna, can't you help us, like you did for Gray when he was a wolf?" Vio asked Midna when he saw her out and about. Red looked, she was just floating in the middle of the room, arms crossed.

"No, I can't. I'm not that solid in the light. But I can tell you what the monster is called."

"Wonderful, that would be a great help! I'm sure that knowing what it's called will help us kill it!" Blue scoffed.

"Look for obvious weak points," Midna suggested, as she let a spray of acid water go right through her.

The next few minutes were a bit of a blur for Red. Slash, dodge, roll, swing, cover ears and run. Well, it was a good workout. Then, he heard Vio shouting at him; "Red! Your fire rod!"

The fire rod! Maybe it would burn it. He only hoped it didn't set the rest of the room on fire too. Pulling it out, he pointed it at the nearest monster head, which happened to be the middle one, and clicked the switch. Unfortunately, head saw him coming and quenched the flames with its poison before swooping down on him. For a second, all Red saw was teeth, tongue, and flesh when he felt himself being jerked up from the ground. He was inside its mouth!

"Red!" he heard someone shout, before he himself yelled in pain when one of the teeth grazed his right arm. The cut burned like acid. Then the world blurred as he felt himself being shaken left and right, the jolting rattling his senses. Through the shaking, he lost hold of the rod. However, he still had his sword. Knowing exactly where he wanted to put it, he braced himself as best he could in the slippery, slimy mouth while being shaken like a dog's toy, and jabbed his weapon into the monster's eye.

It roared in pain and anger, flinging him across the room until his head slammed into the wall. Collapsing onto the ground, Red sat up, dizzy, rubbing his hand over the lump forming on the back of his head. It _hurt._ Well, he wasn't being shaken anymore, that was a good thing. Groaning, he searched for his sword as he heard Vio run up to him asking; "Red, are you alright?"

Red nodded as he heard Green shouting somewhere, "It always has to be the eye that's the weak point, doesn't it?"

"See, you found it," Midna congratulated in an I-told-you-so voice.

"Now we need a way to hurt the other he- Aaah!" Gray was cut off as a spray of purple muck hit his left hand, causing him to drop his sword and shake his hand, water flying off of it.

"We're not going to get very far using swords, arrows will just bounce off too…" Vio's eyes widened, "Bombs! We can use bombs! Gray, can you throw?" He shouted the last sentence at the said person.

"Huh? I can, but what does that have to do with-"

"Bombs! We have bombs!" Vio yelled again, he and Red rolling towards him as they avoided another head-slam courtesy of the head on the right. Now that they were in proper speaking distance from Gray, Vio explained without having to raise his voice, "You have the better height and I'm assuming throwing range than us, because you're bigger. You'll have a better chance at throwing one of these," he pulled a bomb from his pouch, "into their mouths," he gestured at the three monsters.

The three of them ducked as a spray of acid sailed over their heads. Gray nodded as if he was warming up to the idea.

"Any chance one of you guys could make one mad so it roars at you?" He asked. Red raised his hand cheerfully.

"I can!" he exclaimed, taking out his slingshot, "Ready?" Gray nodded an affirmative.

"Hey you! Over here!" Red shouted, pelting the nearest head with small rocks. That had the desired effect. The monster roared, Vio yelled,

"Now!" and Gray threw the bomb. His aim was true. The explosive sailed into its mouth. The monster choked on it, struggling to swallow the unexpected food. Then the bomb exploded in its throat. The thing went completely limp, landing in the water with a loud _splash! _It didn't come back.

"One down!" Red cheered. He glanced over to where Blue and Green were goading the other deku baba head into opening its mouth. Green was using his boomerang. Red watched as the monster roared in anger as the stick hit it. Then, Blue threw his bomb down its slimy maw. It too choked, and went limp as the explosive did its work. Two down!

Midna started clapping slowly and yawned as the chaos flew around her.

"Yes!" Green cheered, throwing a fist in the air in triumph before ducking as the remaining head spat liquid death at him.

The five of them grouped and worked together to goad the last head into opening its mouth. When it did, Gray did the honors of lobbing the bomb into its mouth. Unfortunately, that head had learned from the other's mistakes, and clamped its mouth shut before the bomb could reach it. It bounced off harmlessly and ricocheted right back at them. Everyone rolled aside to dodge the resulting explosion.

"We need a way to stun it!" Green yelled over the roars of a furious monster, "Any ideas?"

"Wait! I do!" Gray called back, reaching into his pouch and pulling out a boomerang of his own. This one was far fancier than Green's. Red hadn't seen it before, but he did remember Blue mentioning it in the other room. Something about dragging a windstorm along with it? That might be why the sides were shaped a little like feathers.

Gray threw it, and Blue's words proved to be true. A mini tornado erupted around it as it spun towards the lizard-plant thing's head. Whether it got dizzy or because the stick collided with it's eye, Red didn't know. All he knew was that the creature roared and collapsed, its head landing in the withered grass, tongue out, and eye spinning comically.

Blue ran up and smashed the yellow eye as hard as he could with his hammer. The monster writhed, screeching and screaming as it waved its long neck around in the air, head splashing poisonous muck everywhere. Eventually, it froze up, skin blackening and withering until it finally exploded into dust. But, instead of falling to the ground like Red had expected, the dust- which he now realized was little black squares- hung in slow-motion in the air for a moment, temporarily suspended in time, before all angling towards the center of the cloud, which was right in front of the group, and zipping into it.

The squares in that instant, formed some sort of weird glowing black _thing _that to Red looked a little like the front half of the mask that Midna wore. Only this emanated dark power. It didn't seem all that pleasant.

Before any of them could touch it, however, Midna materialized in between them and the thing.

"Eee hee hee, well done! See, you didn't need my help after all!" She crowed, "This… is what I was looking for."

"That? What is it?" Blue asked.

"That is a Fused Shadow. It's what the light spirit called dark power. Do you remember what that light spirit said? About how you guys had to match the power of the king of shadows?" She grabbed it out of the air with her hair. It must be handy, being able to use her hair as an extra hand.

"Yes," Vio said. Red thought back. It seemed like so long ago. Yeah, there was something Faron had said about that.

"Could this really be so easy? Is this all there is to it? Eee hee hee!" Midna giggled, "There's a total of three Fused Shadows. I think the other light spirits have the rest…"

"What do they do? What are they?" Vio asked.

"If you want to know, well, maybe I'll tell you once we find the other two. I guess you'd better do your best to find them, huh? Eee hee hee!" She put the Fused Shadow away somewhere. Maybe her helmet doubled as a pouch.

"So, let's not waste any more time here when we could be looking for the other two," Midna floated over to a clear spot on the floor and Red realized with a shock that the room looked much better. None of the grass was withered anymore, and even the water had turned crystal clear. The room was very pretty and cheery now. That made Red happy. He noticed his fire rod on the ground and picked it up as Midna created a portal on the floor.

"I'll get you out of here… come on," Midna gestured for them to stand by her. Red nodded, stepping into the green and black vortex and taking a last glance about the room before letting the darkness of twilight traveling take him away.

**A/N Well, there are multiple reasons I took a while this time… One: I had two new story ideas that I started working on. Two: I have a life outside of FanFiction. Three: I went on a Merlin reading rampage and read a ton of Merlin fanfictions. Four: I had almost no clue how to tackle a boss battle, never having had done a large fight like that before, and am far from the best at doing battle scenes…**

**On the other hand, I went to a renaissance festival! Of course, I was the only one in my family to go dressed up, and yes, I went as Link… Got high-fived by a few random strangers for that! XD**

**Anyway, I hope I did okay for a big fight like that! Have you ever tried doing a large battle scene completely from the optimistic one's point of view? It is ****_hard!_**** Anyway, cheers! :D**

**Random note; At the point when Red was in the monster's mouth and I used the simile 'while being shaken like a dog's toy' what I really wanted to say was; 'being shaken like a Christmas present.' But since they don't have Christmas in Hyrule, I couldn't use it. :( Oh well.**

**Guest reviewer! (you know who you are) Go!**

**Ashlee S- Haha here's your exciting chapter at long last! Hope it was worth the wait! Yeah, I remember that bit in the manga XD I'll try to throw it in somewhere when I see an opportunity!**


	20. Rats? Where?

**Gray**

When they became solid again, Gray noticed that they were back in Faron's spring, though Faron was not visible.

"Heroic ones…" Faron's voice came out of the water. It had a solemn note to it, "Do not think for a moment that Hyrule is saved from the spread of twilight… Leave these woods and go west. There you will find the land protected by the spirit Eldin."

"So does that mean we have to turn into animals again?" Green asked.

"Yes, if that is what it takes to stop the darkness. Go to Kakariko Village, it is there that Eldin resides. Link, it is also there you will find those you seek…"

"The children?! Are they okay?" Gray gasped. Were they really there? Hope flared in his chest.

"They are there," Faron confirmed, "But know that these lands lie in twilight… They are now a dark realm covered by the clouds of dusk. Though they do not completely realize it, they are now spirits in that realm. You will not be able to touch them, and they cannot see you until the cursed twilight has been lifted."

"Come on, the twilight's not _that_ bad," Midna complained, "I live there!"

"Little one, the twilight does not belong in this world. It cannot stay here."

"Why not?" Midna asked defiantly, raising her chin.

"Midna, I know you are scared, frustrated, and angry for what happened to you, and understandably so. But if it helps, all is not lost for your kind." Faron said.

Those last seven words had a huge impact on Midna. She completely lost her usual uncaring demeanor. Her visible eye widened, and she gasped, her body stiffening. Then, she sighed sadly, sinking to the ground and hanging her head, "I'll never forgive him for what he did to me and my people," she spat bitterly, eye narrowed.

"All things will turn out as they should in the end. They just need time. Go and help the young heroes, as they will later help you."

Midna gazed at the water, sadness nearly emanating off her face. She stood there for a minute, before finally nodding, jumping into the air, and recovering her snarky attitude.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get moving!"

**~/_\~**

**Zelda**

Zelda couldn't help but feel relieved the rat was gone. She rubbed her arm where its teeth had torn a hole in her glove. She would ever think of rodents the same way again.

Together, she and Young Zelda had explained to Valensuela what was going on, watching anxiously as he pondered the situation.

"Well, this certainly isn't good." He sighed at last, "What are we going to tell the Captain?"

The Captain, of course, was Link's father. He would probably want to know what had happened as well. Zelda chewed her lip.

"I don't know, but I do think we should tell him," she decided.

"Alright. One more thing," he gazed at Young Zelda, "Is it wise for you to be here? I mean, you two look so much alike, and you're from a completely different time. Wouldn't someone be missing you?"

"I want to help," She stated, "Besides, I don't think anyone will know I've been gone. Chancellor Cole thinks that I should be locked in my room all day. He's no fun. It'll be good to go out and get some excitement for once… As long as there's no more rats."

"Yeah, no more rats," Zelda agreed.

Valensuela still looked a little uncertain, but he didn't protest.

"Alright, let's go see the Captain."

**~/_\~**

**Valensuela**

"So," the Captain stated after a while of thought, "My son -or sons, as it is right now- is trapped in another time but you have no idea where, our guest is from the future, and you have reason to believe my son's counterparts are separated because a robot you made appear said something about knowing a kid clad in green named Link, but no other colors."

"That's about right," Valensuela watched Zelda knit her hands together in anxiety and bite her lip. He admired her courage to tell him at all. Valensuela himself had volunteered to tell the story, but Zelda had insisted that it was her fault and her responsibility. Thus, she had confronted the Captain herself, he and Young Zelda by her side to support her.

Young Zelda intrigued him. She looked so much like Zelda, but different at the same time- younger, straighter hair, and less... less regal. She acted more like a child her age than Zelda did. That was good in his opinion, for Zelda already acted a lot older than she was. Without her father, she was forced to grow up too fast.

"Do you think you can bring him back?" the Captain asked.

"We're trying," Zelda responded, "But seeing as no-one knows how the harp works, it will take time."

"Do what you can, please, My Lady. I hope my boy is alright."

"As do I, Captain, as do I," Zelda sighed.

"Captain, we are going to be in my chambers, if you need us," Zelda informed him, "It is the best place in the castle to figure out the harp- lots of space, bright, and no rats."

"Alright. Is that all, my lady?" the Captain said, then did a double-take, "...No rats? Do we have an infeestation?"

"Oh, did I say that out loud?" Zelda muttered and blushed fiercely, raising her voice to normal, "No, no rats anywhere Captain. We shall go now," then she led the way to her chambers, leaving a very confused Captain of the guard in her wake.

**A/N I am SO sorry I couldn't update sooner! I was going to right before school started, but I couldn't because halfway through this chapter, my parents went, took everything off, and reset the whole thing so now it works much better. I was left without a computer for a while, then used my dad's old one until mine could get finished up, which I just got back last night to put all my stuff back on. So… yeah. At least it's up now!**

**Sorry it's a little short- I wanted to post ****_something_**** after being gone so long!**

**Twenty chapters!**

**On the other hand, school has now started and I have homework galore! Mostly art, because that class gives me college credit. So, DeviantARTers! I'm gonna probably be putting a lot of artwork that's****_ not_**** pictures up at some point! (yaaay!)**

**So, yes, my updates will be kinda slow whole school is here… maybe about one chapter every two or three weeks, maybe more, maybe less, I dunno, but that's my estimate.**

**Guest reviewer (Of whom I really wish she could have her account back)! Your time is here!**

**Ashlee S- Glad you like seeing Blue flip out! :P Really? Wow, I'm getting a fanfiction off of my fanfiction- Never thought that would happen when I started off on this site! XD Fun! I wish I could read it too! Mmm, I haven't played a whole lot of Twilight Princess lately, mostly 'cause school and we're renting Portal 2 and it's an awesome game! XD BUT, when I do play, I comment… I could probably do an LP if I had a good enough video camera… Something that'll probably never happen. Ah, oh well. Oh, I put up a new story on Shadow Link if you're interested!**


	21. Bridge Repairs

**Green**

"Wow! It's so big!" Red exclaimed, peering out over the vast field. Green had to agree. The group had just entered the field to find that it looked very different than the one back at home. The Hyrule Field they knew stretched all over the place, but had tons of trees, mountains, and rocks covering the grass. Here, there was a lot more plain open grass and dirt paths.

"That doesn't look very good," Blue pointed. Marring the beautiful scene in front of them was a gigantic wall of twilight, staining the sky yellow and black.

"Come on," Green said, "We've got to get rid of it, and fast!" he led the way towards the looming wall, admiring all the space in the field.

"Hey, what's that?" Red asked, pointing to some sort of… creature that seemed to be a round-shaped body supported on two spindly legs.

"That's a bombskit, I think," Gray answered, "Rusl was telling me about them once. I think they're harmless."

"Okay," Red answered. The five of them kept following the dirt path until it forked into three ways.

"Um, Kakariko Village is this way," Gray examined his map and picked the leftmost path and continued along it. As they were walking, Green heard some shouting in front of them.

"Do you hear…?" he began.

"HEEEEEEEEEY!" a person wearing a thin shirt and shorts, with a red hat and a tall flag sticking out from his backpack raced into sight. When he reached them, he stopped and warned, "Go no further! There is a black wall ahead that blocks the way! I thought I would deliver a few letters, but it seems impossible…" the strange guy rubbed the back of his head worriedly, "I am the honorable and dependable letter carrier, known to some as… the Postman." He introduced himself. That might explain the running getup and the small bunny head stitched on the front of his shirt.

"Now that I have introduced myself, please! Take these letters and read them at your own leisure!" he proudly handed them each an envelope out of his bag, humming a short little tune of completion as he did so.

"Thank yo-" vio started, but was interrupted.

"Well, my business is concluded! Onward to mail!" Then the Postman turned around and charged right back up the path he came from.

"…Okay…" Blue said slowly.

"How did we get letters? As far as I know, only you, and everyone else back in Ordon know we exist," Vio asked Gray.

"Uh, the Postman has a lot of ways he does things… I've only seen him a few times, and never spoken to him. He comes to Ordon occasionally and delivers letters to Rusl. I've never gotten one myself," Gray explained.

"Huh," Green opened the letter, wanting to know what it said. It couldn't be from anyone he didn't know, so…

It read;

*About Mail Delivery*

If I have a letter for you, I will approach at high speed! Please do not flee!

-The Postman

"I got a letter from the Postman!" Red exclaimed, "It says not to run away when he comes to us!"

"Mine says the same thing," Blue agreed, peering at Red's letter.

"I didn't know he gave anyone a letter like this," Gray said.

"Well, if he plans on getting us more letters, how does he know to give them to us? He doesn't know our names," Vio wondered.

No-one had an answer to that.

**~/_\~**

A couple minutes after that, the six travelers finally reached the wall of twilight. It hummed softly, bathing the grass and cliffs around them in a dull orange-gold. Midna hopped out in front of them.

"Hey, it's much closer than I thought…" She noted, "Remember, if you set foot in there, you guys might be animals again for quite some time… For at least as long as it takes to save the light of Eldin from the twilight, anyway…"

"That doesn't matter! We have to help!" Green insisted. Why was she warning them again? Of course they knew what would happen! They couldn't back down now! The imp grinned.

"So, shall we try to go see the light spirit of Eldin? Eee-hee! I'll let you in when you're ready!" Midna entered the twilight, the black wall rippling slightly in her wake.

"Come on," Green said, before determinedly leading the others to where Midna had disappeared. Almost at once a large orange hand reached out and grabbed them, dragging them roughly inside.

**~/_\~**

Green landed roughly on the ground, bracing himself for the discomfort of transforming. He wasn't disappointed. Strangely enough, turning into a rabbit didn't hurt this time around, and he also didn't fall unconscious. This was a big plus, and he was rather cheerful until he remembered exactly how short he was now- especially compared to Gray. Wolf Link stood up and shook his gray mane of fur, his body towering over the small, green-tinted rabbit's. It was a little intimidating and Green had to fight all of his rabbitly instincts that were screaming; _run away! The big bad wolf is going to eat you!_

Shaking himself, he asked, "Everyone alright?"

"Yeah!" Red said, bouncing on his hind legs a little, "I can jump high again!" he grinned as best as a rabbit could.

"Great, why don't you go jump off a cliff?" Blue grumbled. He looked far less than thrilled to be a small animal again. Green glared at him warningly.

"I'm good," Vio spoke up, swiveling his ears experimentally. Green nodded in agreement, and then jumped and growled in surprise when Midna landed hard on his back, back in her true colors instead of a shadow. Knowing any attempts to throw her off would be fruitless, he only glared at her.

"That's a good boy!" Midna crowed, patting Gray on his neck, "Now you five listen up; you need to listen to everything I say from now on! Ahh, look! How lovely! The black clouds of twilight are so fetching today… I feel so much more at ease here!"

She did seem to look a lot happier now. Green didn't quite agree with her on it though. He certainly didn't feel more at ease in the twilight.

"…And you guys look so much better like this than in those dusty old clothes, anyway. Eee-hee!"

That statement Green definitely did not agree with.

"_HEY!_" Blue protested angrily. Midna simply ignored him, leaning forward on Gray's back and kicking him in the sides like a horse.

"So, let's get going!" she demanded. Green knew they were doing this for a good cause, but Midna's attitude sometimes didn't make him very happy about doing it.

The group started down the path, Green still trying to get used to the half-hop he had to trot with. Rabbit's legs were built for jumping and running instead of walking. He still had to get used to his other senses as well. Last time he was a bunny, he had definitely noticed his much better hearing, smell, and sight, but he'd been too occupied and worried to really figure them all out. Now though, he could really tell exactly how much better they were.

He could spy another bombskit in the distance, and moving an ear in that direction, he could actually hear its feet tapping on the ground. As a hylian, that would have been impossible. As for smell, it really was a bit overwhelming. It had been horrible in those sewers, but now outside, it was a lot nicer, even if it was a little disconcerting to be able to smell a flower that sat at the base of a tree on the cliff behind them. Sight was by far the strangest though. Not only could he see things very far away in front of him, but he could also see a lot of _behind_ him without turning his head **(1)**.

"Hey, what's that?" Vio asked, running over to a stick shoved into the ground in the middle of the path. The others ran over too. Gray balked, apparently recognizing the carved object.

"What is it?" Red asked.

"…Wooden sword," Gray answered worriedly, "It used to be mine, but I let Talo use it."

"Hey, if we smelled it, couldn't we follow the scent to wherever they are?" Vio wondered.

"Yeah, I guess we could!" Gray cheered up a bit at that idea, bending down to smell the stick.

"See, isn't being animals much more convenient? I'd like to see you try doing that in your hylian forms. Eee hee!" Midna grinned while Blue purred angrily.

"Come on! The scent goes this way!" Red bounded down the path. Everyone else followed him. They ran until they reached a place where a bridge was. There were three shadow beasts wandering around in front of it. A barrier fell down and hummed to life around them, the five crouching down defensively.

"Midna, can you do that thing again?" Gray asked. She nodded, and kicked him in the sides, Gray moving forward after glaring at her.

Green let the duo do their stuff. Even though he wanted to help, it was rather hard to fight as a bunny. Also, if he was honest with himself, Wolf Link did scare him. Bunnies were preyed upon by wolves, and Green could never quite quench the instincts telling him to run and hide, even though he knew in his head it was a silly fear. Watching Gray fight didn't help his case.

Gray dispatched the shadow beings in record time, the whole fight lasting about thirty seconds. Midna's charge attack really worked well. The barrier fell away, and a portal erected itself right over… well, right over where the bridge was _supposed_ to be. Green hadn't noticed until now, but the bridge was _gone_.

"What's this?! That's strange… the bridge is gone…" Midna stated.

"Yes, we can see that," Blue glowered.

"I wonder if this is the work of those shadow creatures… ugh… What a pain!" Midna frowned, "Ah, well, let's look for it… You! Get your map out!" she ordered.

"I don't have hands," Gray mentioned. Grumbling, Midna grabbed the map herself.

Giggling, Red said, "That's why we can be more convenient as hylians!" Midna ignored him.

"Ah… here!" the imp shoved the map under Gray's nose, her fingers pointing at some squiggly blue things on it.

"Whenever you destroy those creatures from the darkness, a portal opens up like this on the map. You hear me? It's called a portal, remember that. And… in those woods we came through… Yes! It's got to be around there!"

"You mean that bridge we saw leaning against that cliff face?" Vio asked.

"I say we go get it!" Blue crowed.

"Can you move something that big?" Green asked Midna. She nodded.

"Of course I can. I already have to lug you five around."

Just then, without warning, Green felt himself dissolving into black particles and lifted into the sky.

When he landed, he found he was in the clearing with the bridge.

"Gah, I will never get used to that," Gray groaned, "Could you warn us next time, Midna?"

"You knew I was going to do that, you should have been prepared. You know, most people can't leave the twilight that easily. You'd better be grateful!" The imp grinned mischievously.

"Let's just get the bridge," Green interrupted. Blue agreed.

Midna obliged, though Green could tell it definitely put more strain on her than five animals did, seeing as she had to use both of her hands and her hair. Green watched in fascination as the bridge floated over their heads, before dissolving into twilight squares. He and the others soon followed.

They landed back at the chasm, and Midna set the bridge down back where it was supposed to be.

"See! Just as I thought… Eee hee!" She giggled. "So, isn't the power of twilight amazing? Ask me if you need the power again. It should help you find what we're looking for, don't you think? Alright, let's get going!" Green sighed. She could be very annoying and full of herself.

They carried on, feeling a bit more cheerful after Gray, who had seen the map, pointed out that they were almost to Kakariko Village. What made them even happier was that the scent trail they had been following led straight to the place.

After racing across a stretch of open field, they found themselves staring at a large metal gate with spikes on top, blocking the way into the village which was surrounded by tall cliffs. A couple of bokoblin-like creatures guarded the fence on the other side, wielding clubs. They hadn't seen the group of animals yet, and Green wasn't really sure what they would do if they did.

"Huh…" Midna said, "What are they doing here? This is a pretty elaborate gate... What are they trying to keep in? …or out? I bet it will be worth our while to dig in…" she pointed to a low hole in the dirt path that ran under the gate.

Green, Red, Blue, and Vio all fit under with a bit of squeezing, but Gray had to dig and make the hole bigger for himself.

The bokoblin shadow-creatures finally caught sight of them and raced over, pointing and growling at them as if they had done something shameful.

Gray growled dangerously as they advanced, before Blue leapt onto one's face and chomped down on his nose. The others took this as a cue to go, leaping on top of their enemies and scratching and biting until they exploded into twilight squares. Then, with the path now free, they entered Kakariko Village.

**1- Yes, I did research rabbits and wolves this time to make sure I'm getting all my facts right. It was actually pretty fascinating. If you're wondering if rabbits and wolves are colorblind or see in black and white, no they do not. Rabbits can see all colors, though supposedly some colors just jump out at them more. I'm just going with normal sight for the simplicity of it. Wolves too can see color, but it is unknown whether they are colorblind or not. I am also going with normal sight on this one.**

**A/N I made it! Yes! A reward of one long chapter for you, and a reward of one chapter finally posted for me! Hope you enjoyed!**

**No guest reviewers this time. Ashlee, I miss you! Come baaaack!**


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